Midlife Health: Watermelon

Cool Off with Watermelon

Do you find yourself feeling more energetic during the summer months? Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) tells us that plants grow faster during summer and people act more energetically. Blood and the body’s qi quicken their pace.

TCM claims that the heart can over-function, causing you to sweat, and this then restricts the functioning of the lung. There are certain foods that are recommended to enhance lung functioning and maintain the body’s normal sweating mechanisms – watermelon, strawberries, tomatoes, mung beans, cucumber, bean sprouts, duck and fish.

So there’s good reason if you find yourself gravitating to a juicy slice of watermelon this summer. You may need cooling down, especially if you’ve been sweating a lot and thus losing Vitamin B.  Watermelon, which is a staple of many people’s picnic table, is nature’s gift to help us cool off. It is a great source of Vitamins B6, B1, magnesium and potassium which are excellent for keeping your energy levels up and muscle cramping down.

In TCM watermelon is an important healing food.  High in beta-carotene and antioxidants, it has been used medicinally to treat heart disease, diabetes, liver problems and kidney infection. Eat it regularly to help reduce high blood pressure. It also aids the body in releasing toxins via its ability to increase the  body’s need to urinate.

Additionally, watermelon can be effective for sunburns when used topically. The juice is cooling to the skin and promotes healing.

If you’re going to juice or blend the watermelon, include some of the white and green rind, as well as the seeds – they are a digestive aid. Just make sure your machine can break down the seeds.

Midlife Health: Vitamin C, the Kiwifruit Way

Although I don’t have too much of a “sweet tooth”, one of my favorite desserts is Pavlova. Basically it’s a round merengue “dome” with a soft, marshmallow-type center and topped with whipped cream and fruit.  Although I don’t make them often, I did have one just the other night while out to dinner at a New Zealand-style restaurant.  You will generally only find Pavlovas in Australia and New Zealand.

DownUnder we frequently put kiwifruit on top of the Pavlova, often along with strawberries.  So what’s in a Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa)?   They are delicious and loaded with Vitamin C along with other nutrients. The flesh is either a translucent, bright-green color (the most common one) or golden which is less common but equally delicious.Their skin is furry and although edible, not very tasty. The fruit itself has more Vitamin C than a similarly-sized orange, more vitamins E and K than most other fruits, almost as much potassium as a small banana and as much fiber as one of my favorite breakfasts – a cup of cooked oatmeal.

Kiwifruit was “born” in China and was originally know as Chinese Gooseberry, a name I still remember from growing up in Australia. New Zealanders however named it in honor of their national bird when they began to cultivate it commercially. Italy, Chile, Greece and France are now also commercial producers.

Components of kiwifruit have potential properties of a natural  blood thinner.  From a study performed at the University of Oslo in Norway it was reported that eating two to three kiwifruit daily for 28 days significantly reduced the stickiness of platelets and  blood triglyceride levels (something along the lines of “aspirin therapy”), potentially reducing the risk of blood clots.  The fruit is also a natural source of provitamin A, beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin.

One other benefit that appeals to me is that kiwifruit is low on the pesticide contamination list so if you can’t find organic ones, then conventionally grown fruits will add very little to your body’s pesticide load. Always a important consideration when buying foods today!

And in case all this talk of Pavlova has started you salivating … How to Make a Pavlova

Midlife Health – The Eyes Have It!

Castor Oil Plant

Last weekend I attended an all-day lecture by Dr. Norman Shealy. His discussion of energy medicine and alternative healing remedies was most informative. One of the topics that peaked my interest was using castor oil for cataracts. My mother had cataracts removed many years ago and I have a number of friends who’ve recently had surgery for the same reason.  If this is an issue for you, the following tips might be helpful.

The growth of cataracts is an issue many people face as they age.  Cataracts are a clouding of the natural lens of the eye. The lens is responsible for focusing light and producing clear images. The larger the cataracts become, the more fuzzy the vision.  The process is begun by poor circulation that prevents the eye from ridding itself of “debris.”  Surgery may be the only resolution for a late-stage cataract but castor oil may help you resolve the issue in its early stages.

Castor oil was apparently used by the Egyptians for eye irritations, the medical intuitive Edgar Cayce recommended it for cataracts and Dr Shealy also endorses it.

The directions for use are to simply put one drop of the pure oil (make sure the oil is free of any contaminants) in each eye at bedtime. If you’ve ever used castor oil for any reason you’ll know why you want to do it at bedtime.  The oil is very sticky and you’ll certainly have cloudy vision for about half an hour.  Over time the oil gradually dissolves the cataract.

To prevent cataracts, you might want to increase your intake of lutein and zeaxanthin, two of the most abundant carotenoids in our diet. A new study from Finish researchers suggests that increased levels of lutein and zeaxanthin may reduce the risk of cataracts by about 40%. Increasing evidence supports the role of these two carotenoids for eye health, which also includes decreasing your odds of being afflicted with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

These carotenoids are available as supplements but if you want to go the natural route, here are foods that contain lutein and/or zeaxanthin:

• kale
• collard greens
• spinach
• swiss chard
• mustard greens
• parsley
• eggs
• beet greens
• okra
• red pepper
• dill
• romaine lettuce
• endive
• celery
• scallions
• leeks
• broccoli
• leaf lettuce
• squash
• green peas
• carrots
• artichoke
• pumpkin
• dates
• grapes
• oranges

Another recommendation for eye health is Vitamin D3. A recent study from the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London showed that after taking vitamin D3 for only 6 weeks, older mice showed improved vision as well as reductions in inflammation of the retina and levels of amyloid beta accumulation, a hallmark of aging.  This suggests that vitamin D3 may be helpful in preventing AMD, the most common cause of blindness in elderly people.

So if you are looking to improve the health of your eyes, consider trying a more natural path before undergoing surgery.

Midlife Inspiration: You’re Never Too Old to Live Your Dreams

I recently spent some time visiting assisted-living facilities and nursing homes.  The event that prompted this “adventure” was my mother having a stroke and becoming visually impaired. Unfortunately this necessitated her no longer being able to live on her own and therefore having to make other arrangements.

What struck me as I was investigating these facilities and talking to some of the residents was how disengaged in life many of the folks had become.  The “why” I discovered was that fundamentally they believed they had nothing left to live for.

Some hadn’t even begun to empty out their “bucket lists” –  do those things they had always dreamt about.  When I commented that it was never too late, the majority said, “Oh no, I’m too old.”  What a sad statement.

I don’t believe we’re ever too old to experience the joy of doing something we truly love, even if it’s just a small piece of it.  For example, a client once told me that, at the age of 75, he was far too old to even contemplate becoming an architect, his life’s dream.  Perhaps he wasn’t about to go back to school to do the requisite study but does that mean he couldn’t live out his dream in another way.  He could have opted to volunteer at an architect’s office or do some simple online CAD training.  Anything that was related to architectural work.

If you need some inspiration to follow your dreams, then maybe these examples might spur you on:

• Benjamin Franklin, at age 78, invented bifocal spectacles.
• Mary Fasano, age 89, earned her undergraduate degree from Harvard.
• Architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Guggenheim Museum at 90 years of age.
• David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, taught himself ancient Greek when he was at an advanced age just so he could master the classics.

Ages 35-55 might be the peak times for creativity in many fields but people in their 60s and 70s, though slower, are as productive as they were in their 20s. So if you’ve given up because you think you’re too old, think again, get rid of that limiting belief and GO FOR IT!

Cellist Pablo Casals was 91 when a student asked, “Master, why do you continue to practice?” His reply, “Because I am making progress.”

Have You Lost Your Reason for Being Born?

As the little children were leaving school one day the teacher asked them to bring in their birth certificates the next day.  As he was about to head off to school with it the next morning, one little boy was cautioned by his mother to be particularly careful with it since it was a very important document.  But unfortunately, by the time he got to class he had lost it anyway.  He began to cry.

Billie answered tearfully, “I lost my reason for being born!”

Have you ever thought that you shouldn’t have been born? Have you made apologies for who you are because you believed that others were better than you? Have you felt like you had nothing to contribute to life?

Nobody on this earth is more or less valuable than you.  We all have gifts to share, no matter how small or how insignificant we might think those are. Perhaps it’s just a smile that brightens someone else’s day.  Sometimes we need to be reminded how significant we are especially during those times when we’re feeling “down and out”.

I recently ended a presentation on the power of our thoughts to shape our life with the following words.  If you’re currently feeling less joyful than you know you can be, perhaps they will lift your spirits.

What will you do with the rest of your life?

… so CHOOSE now …

BECOME CLEAR about who you are
PLANT the seeds of success
CHANGE your thoughts, behaviors and habits
DEVELOP self confidence
BUILD courage
ALIGN yourself with the positive
MOVE forward one step at a time

ENGAGE your heart, not just your mind
REMEMBER that you reap what you sow
STEP outside of your comfort zone
RELEASE the past
MAKE it the life you want NOW

NEVER, EVER give up!

Midlife Wellness: Honey for Healing

Bees make honey when the enzymes in their stomachs react with the nectar of flowers.   It is  made up primarily of glucose together with fructose and is twice as sweet as sugar.   You can substitute 1/2 – 3/4 cup honey for 1 cup of sugar in recipes.

In its raw, unfiltered/minimally filtered state, honey is a concentrated source of essential nutrients such as some minerals, B-complex vitamins and vitamins C, D and E.

Aside from being used for sweetening foods and beverages, honey is also used to promote energy and healing. Germs don’t grow well in honey which makes it a natural antiseptic and a good salve for burns and wounds.

Researchers at the University of Sydney found that when diluted honey is applied to a moist wound, it produces hydrogen peroxide, a known anti-bacterial agent. Further research revealed that honey may be a natural remedy for some of the hospital “superbugs” that are resistant to antibiotics.

Honey has been used for many centuries. The ancient Greeks, the Romans and the Egyptians were great proponents of using the golden gooey stuff. My favorite way to use it is for a sore throat or cough.  I put a teaspoon or so in a cup of hot tea along with some lemon juice.  According to my husband, the brew works much better if you add rum!

Pure, uncontaminated honey is greatly underutilized these days as a healing remedy.  However, there are marked differences in the antibacterial activity of different types of honey. Manuka honey, made by bees in New Zealand, has been found to have the most healing properties of any honey on the market.

A word of warning: NEVER give honey of any type to an infant under one year of age.  In its natural form it can contain spores of the bacteria that cause botulism. This poses no problem for healthy adults and older children unless it happens to be tainted honey smuggled in from China. I was mortified when I read a recent article about “honey smuggling.”  It seems that this honey can contain illegal antibiotics and heavy metals. Not only that, but some products marked as honey have almost no honey in them. They are a mix of sugar water, malt sweeteners, corn or rice syrup, jaggery (coarse unrefined sugar from the sap of certain palm trees), barley malt sweetener or other additives with just a small amount of actual honey.

If you use honey and buy it from a supermarket, I suggest you read the article at http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/08/honey-laundering/

Four Ways to Change

“There are only four ways that you can change anything about yourself, your life, your work, or your relationships with others.” – Brian Tracy, self development author and coach

Brian Tracy says that to change you need to:

Do more of something
Do less of something
Start something
Stop something

We all have things that we would like to do more of but never seem to have the time.  The flip side of that coin is that we find the time to do things that perhaps don’t bring us all that much joy or aren’t of any great value in our achieving goals.  You might want to exercise more, do more yoga, spend more time with family, read more books but can’t fit it into your busy schedule.  On the other hand,  do you watch mindless TV, play hours of video games, spend too much time chatting on the phone?  So why can’t you do less of those things and therefore spend more time on the things you DO want to do.

The same holds true for starting something.  Perhaps you have to stop something in order to start something else.

If you find you are stuck and not moving forward, ask yourself “If I do X, what will that get me?”  For example, if you stop playing video games and read more books about investing, what will that get you? Perhaps that house on the beach when you retire, or a new car because your current one has 250,000 miles on the speedometer and may not last much longer. If the house or the car are important enough, you will stop playing the games and start reading.

If your answer is something that you deeply want or care about, then you WILL find a way to make the change. If you have a passion for something, it will drive you to do whatever is necessary.  If not, then it probably wasn’t all that important in the first place.

Action Steps

What do you need to do more of?
What will that get you?

What do you need to do less of?
What will that get you?

What do you need to begin?
What will that get you?

What do you need to stop?
What will that get you?

Include behaviors and attitudes in your list.
Ask those around you what they think you should stop, start, do more/less of.
Start small. Pick one thing and work on that.
Start today and change your life!

Out-of-the-Box Thinking

Many hundreds of years ago in a small Italian town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant’s beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the merchant’s debt if he could marry the merchant’s daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. The cunning money lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter.

The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender’s wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant’s garden. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick her pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine you were standing in the merchant’s garden. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.

3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking. The girl’s dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking.

Think of the consequences if she chooses the logical answers.

What would you recommend the girl do?

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

“Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.
— Unknown

LESSON FROM THIS STORY:  Sometimes we twist our minds into a knot trying to find a solution and often believing that there really isn’t one that makes sense.  If we can just let go and think of the problem in a different way, the answer might be right there.

Is there a problem you’re trying to solve? Breathe deeply, ask for the answer, then let it go and allow your creativity to take over.

Baby Boomer Lifestyle – Conflict Resolution in Retirement

One of the emotional issues facing those of you who are considering retirement is the amount of time you will be spending with your spouse.  When you change from spending 8+ hours a day outside the house at your work to suddenly spending 24 hours a day with your spouse, conflict inevitably comes up. You both have your own interests and agendas.  Sometimes they’re miles apart!

Not only is the conflict unpleasant but it affects your health.  To keep your stress level down and your heart healthy, resolve conflicts by working together to meet the needs of everyone concerned.  Honest communication is the key. Here are some tips that work during the majority of conflicts:

• Take a breath and count to 10.  Breathe slowly and deeply to calm down your emotions if you’re feeling angry.
• Have the intention of working cooperatively toward a resolution or agreement. Focus on the positive not the negative.
• Attack the challenges, not the person.  You are looking for a solution, not trying to be a winner or turn the other person into a loser.
• Don’t waste time on “who started it.” Work together to figure out the next step to remedy the situation.
• Focus on the future not on all the wrongdoings and emotions of the past. Avoid using phrases such as “You always…..”
• Really listen to the concerns of the other person.  Come from the heart and do it without judgement. Agree to give each party a specific amount of time to speak (say10 minutes), without interruption.
• Come from a place of respect. Name calling and unkind words will only escalate emotions on both sides. If you can’t control your emotions, walk away after agreeing to a cool-off period.
• Avoid blaming the other person and take responsibility for your feelings. Start your sentences with “I” rather than “you” and express your emotions. Don’t make the other person guess what you’re thinking or feeling. They’ll inevitably be wrong, causing further conflict.
• Brainstorm some positive solutions by beginning with what you both agree on rather than on what is lacking.  If you look hard enough, you will find something.
• Know your goal.  What do you want the person to do?  How do want them to behave? What are YOUR needs? Be specific.
• Think about where you want to be in five years time.  Will this conflict impact that scenario?  How do you want to remember it?

So take a deep breath, listen, be fair, be flexible and remember that there is always a solution!

Midlife Walking the Walk

Walking the Walk

Walking sideways caught everybody’s eye.
They always said, “Now, there’s a careful guy!”
But, inching along at such a slow rate,
The downside was, I was usually late.

I remember what happened before:
Ups and downs by the score;
But my fears of the unknown creep in,
And oops! I’m walking backward again.

— John Dean Williamsen-speaker, author

Do you find yourself frequently focusing on the past and allowing those thoughts and beliefs to shape your today and your tomorrow?  It’s been estimated that some 70%-80% of our daily thoughts are negative which means that you may be spending a considerable amount of time reliving past negative events. Doing so causes them to become more deeply imprinted in your mind. Isn’t it time to let them go?  Why not imprint positive thoughts.  It’s just as easy; they’re both just thoughts!

Action Step

Become aware of whether your thoughts about past events are positive or negative.

Enjoy the positive ones – they will uplift your energy.

Take your focus off the negative ones by finding something positive in the moment. Be grateful for whatever it is.  The more often you do so, the less you will find yourself pulled back to events that keep you locked in a cycle of negative patterns.