Where do people live the longest? If you watched the CNN report on Sunday, March 15, 2015, you would have seen the show called The Blue Zones. It was based on the book with the same name by author Dan Buettner.
“People in the Blue Zones reach age 100 at 10 times the average rate. What’s their secret?”
Not surprisingly the common thread was about centenarians who live on remote islands, never saw a McDonalds, and eat only home-grown veggies. One interesting fact was that eating meat was reserved only for special occasions. And also having less stress is a big common denominator, but we all already know that, and unless we are ready to sell everything and move to a remote island that would be almost impossible. But guess what? One of the areas with the most people living to 100 is not only on a remote island in the South Pacific but right here in America. There is hope for us all. Where is it? Loma Linda, California. What do they do that is different from the rest of the country? They are Seventh Day Adventists who eat a vegetarian diet. Plus, they have a strong church community and therefore a tight group of family and friends which is also a key point in life longevity. Here are the 9 key characteristics: Power 9 principles from The Blue Zones:
Move Naturally The world’s longest-lived people don’t pump iron or run marathons. Instead, their environments nudge them into moving without thinking about it.
Purpose Why do you wake up in the morning? Knowing your sense of purpose is worth up to seven years of extra life expectancy.
Down Shift Stress leads to chronic inflammation, associated with every major age-related disease. The world’s longest-lived people have routines to shed that stress.
80% Rule “Hara hachi bu” – the Okinawans say this mantra before meals as a reminder to stop eating when their stomachs are 80 percent full.
Plant Slant The cornerstone of most centenarian diets? Beans. They typically eat meat—mostly pork—only five times per month.
Wine @ 5 Moderate drinkers outlive non-drinkers, especially if they share those drinks with friends.
Belong Attending faith-based services four times per month – no matter the denomination – adds up to 14 years of life expectancy.
Loved Ones First Centenarians put their families first. They keep aging parents and grandparents nearby, commit to a life partner and invest in their children.
Right Tribe They world’s longest lived people chose or were born into social circles that support healthy behaviors.
What is Lyme disease? Lyme disease is an infection caused by a spirochete that humans can get from the bite of an infected deer tick. The spirochete’s scientific name is Borrelia burgdorferi.
It was first discovered in Lyme, Connecticut a quaint little town with a population of around 2k. In the early 1970s a group of children and adults in Lyme, Connecticut, and the surrounding areas were suffering from some puzzling and debilitating health issues. Their symptoms included swollen knees, paralysis, skin rashes, headaches, and severe chronic fatigue. Visits with doctors and hospital stays had become all too common.
Physicians began to study the group’s symptoms and looked for several possible causes. What was causing all these debilitating symptoms? What added to the mystery were the reported skin rashes followed very quickly by arthritic conditions. Most of the people recalled being bitten by a tick in the region. Residents of Lyme began calling it Lyme disease, but they still didn’t know what caused it.
In 1981, a scientist, Willy Burgdorfer, who was studying Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (also caused by a tick bite) began to study Lyme disease. He found the connection between the deer tick and the disease and gave the bacteria causing the illness a name, Borrelia burgdorferi. Therefore, antibiotic treatment could be used to “eradicate” the disease.
This treatment is currently accepted by the medical profession and has been largely successful, especially for those with early-stage Lyme disease. However, there continues to be heavy debate on the long-term use of antibiotics for Lyme that has progressed or appears resistant to a short course of antibiotics.
Lyme disease is one of the fastest-growing infections in the United States. The CDC estimates that there are300,000 new cases of Lyme disease each yearhere in the US. While it was primarily an East Coast phenomenon in the beginning, it has since been reported in all states except Hawaii. (Note: I now live in Sarasota, FL and my veterinarian has told me we do not have Lyme disease in Sarasota, YET. This was after I ran to the veterinarian’s after finding a small tick on my dog.)
I recall when the first time I saw a person with Lyme Disease (20 years ago). I was living in Upstate NY and had met her through some friends. She was obviously physically ill, could hardly walk, and just returned from Mexico were she had undergone an experimental treatment for Lyme disease. It was sad to see, shocking really, and she was exhausted and went home as the rest of us escorted her husband to dinner. I wonder if she is still alive as that was the only time I ever saw her, and her condition was terrible.
As the years went on, I would hear of more and more friends and acquaintances having brushes with Lyme disease. Stories of picking nasty ticks off of body parts after hikes in the woods, a dentist hooked up to an IV of antibiotics as he continued to work on patient’s teeth, or a business man who could no longer run his business because of the disease, continued to send terror into our community.
Now it is 2015, and people are afraid to walk in the woods, garden in their yards, or let their kids play soccer in fear they will pick up a deer tick. And pets are not immune. My friend’s dogs have had Lyme disease, however there is now a vaccination for dogs but not available for humans.
Plum Island
Why were we able to play outside as children and never worried about being infected with Lyme disease? Is it the result of a scientific experiment gone haywire? According to the website http://nstarzone.com/LYME.html it was the US government that created Lyme disease. Their conspiracy theory is that a scientist was experimenting by infecting ticks with a deadly disease as part of biological warfare on Plum Island outside of Long Island and only 10 miles from Lyme, Connecticut. Hmmmm
Some scientists say that Lyme disease has been around for years and it is just taking this long to spread to your particular area. A German physician, Alfred Buchwald, first described the chronic skin rash, or erythema migrans, of what is now known to be Lyme disease more than 130 years ago.
Here are some precautions to take to prevent YOU from being infected with Lyme disease:
Wear white clothing so you can see the ticks and tuck pants into socks when you go for hikes.
Stay on sidewalks and roads. Ticks like grassy areas.
Stand in front of a mirror and examine yourself front and back after being outside doing lawn care or gardening. etc.
Consider DEET for skin and PERMETHRIN for your clothes. A single application of permethrin to your clothing can provide up to six weeks of protection, even after repeated washings. LEMON EUCALYPTUS OIL is believed to repel ticks and several all-natural organic sprays now exist on the market.
Check your dogs and cats for ticks when they come into the house.
You can try making your own tick repellant: (I’m not sure how well it works.)
Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible.
Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don’t twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.
After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.
Dispose of a live tick by submersing it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet. Never crush a tick with your fingers.
Symptoms of Lyme disease:
A flu-like feeling
Joint aches and pains
Rash around the site of the tick bite
Fever
Sore throat
A constant headache
Depression
Exhaustion
Most people that develop Lyme disease never develop the classic bulls-eyed rash.
Most people with Lyme disease never test positive for Lyme in early blood test.
A small percentage of people are NOT CURED with antibiotics.
It is important to get treatment as soon as possible if you suspect your were bitten by a deer tick. If Lyme disease is not diagnosed and treated early, the Lyme spirochetes can spread and may go into hiding in your body. Weeks, months or even years later you may have problems with your brain and nervous system, muscles and joints, heart and circulation, digestion, reproductive system, and skin. Symptoms may disappear even without treatment and different symptoms may appear at different times.
The most common antibiotics prescribed for Lyme Disease is amoxicillin, doxycycline, tetracycline and penicillin. The length of antibiotic treatment varies according to how bad the disease and your symptoms are, but treatment generally lasts less than 4 weeks.
What happens if you do not get better with treatment?
Chronic Lyme disease happens when a person does not seek treatment in time or does not adequately respond to standard antibiotic treatment. Usually your doctor will prescribe more antibiotics or a course of IV antibiotics. Each patient’s case is different.
In the case with the woman I met 20 years ago, she was not responding well with conventional therapy and chose an alternative medical treatment in Mexico. You can Google alternative treatment centers for more info but make sure you do your research before spending your money.
Spring is coming and that means the ticks will come out of hiding. Be careful when you are outside and stay tick-free!
Thanks for reading!
Terry Ryan
Terry Ryan, Blogger
Terry Ryan is a website designer, social media expert and blogger. She lives in Sarasota, FL. http://www.internetboomer.com
Nothing dries out your skin like cold weather, but here are a few things you can do. One is to turn down the thermostat because heat, whether is it electric, hot air, steam, or hot-water heat… will dry your skin. Does it feel like you are pouring on gallons of skin cream and you can still see cracks in your skin? You are not alone and below are a few suggestions.
Baths are a great way to chase the cold away, but a long, hot bath will make dry skin worse. It is better to take a warm, quick shower, and use a mild soap like Dove.
Here are 10 things you can do to keep your skin from dying out:
Applying coconut oil a few times during the day on your legs, hands and face.
Before you dry off after your shower liberally apply Johnson and Johnson Baby Oil Gel and then dry off. The gel lasts a lot longer on your skin and applying it before your dry off locks in moisture.
Use O’Keeffe’s for Healthy Foot Cream (Daily Foot Cream For a Life of Healthy Feet) on your feet liberally and then put on a pair of cotton socks before your go to bed.
A great moisturizing face mask is honey and egg yokes mixed together with a couple of drops of Vitamin E. Cover your face with the mixture and wash off after 10 minutes.
Really dry skin on your legs? Try Crisco! Then put on your winter underwear.
Use O’Keeffe’s Hand Cream for dry hands. I recommend keeping it by the kitchen sink and using it a few times during the day.
Olive Oil is a great and healthy way to moisturize dry skin.
For dry faces use Christina Moss Naturals Facial Moisturizer – Organic & 100% Natural – Best Facial Moisturizing Cream for Sensitive, Oily or Severely Dry Skin – Anti-Aging & Anti-Wrinkle – for Women & Men – Wont Dry Your Skin or Leave It Oily – Softens & Repairs Damaged Skin – No SLS, SLES, Parabens, PG, PG Derivatives or Harmful Chemicals.
If you are like most people with a low thyroid disorder you feel robbed of energy, you get easily stressed out, your hair is falling out by the handful and you have a constant brain fog.
And if that is not bad enough because your thyroid is working below par you are finding it next to impossible to lose weight. Even though you put so much effort into exercising and eating well. It is down right frustrating.
But there is good news… FINALLY!
The Natural Thyroid Diet. The 4-Week Plan To Living Well, Living Vibrantly is the ultimate guide to treating hypothyroidism naturally.
It is for the newly diagnosed, or those who are frustrated that they are still struggling with low thyroid symptoms after many years.
The author, Louise O’Connor is a leading Australian Naturopath and Wellness Coach. Written from her unique Naturopathic perspective it is unlike most books written on thyroid health. Louise draws on her professional experience as a Naturopathic practitioner and her ongoing research into thyroid health to deliver an eBook that combines a natural healing approach with the latest scientific research.
The Natural Thyroid Diet. The 4-Week Plan to Living Well, Living Vibrantly goes beyond being just another diet book. You will get back-to-basics, real food advice from a qualified Naturopath to help you look and feel your best.
You will also learn why thyroid problems are on the rise and most importantly you will get practical and effective strategies to help you get absolutely clear on what is necessary to navigate your own thyroid health recovery.
This is a breakthrough in holistic thyroid health management. You can expect to see improvements in your health in as little four weeks.
This eBook was first written back in 2007. Since then it has been revised numerous times with new and comprehensive information. The expert advice contained in The Natural Thyroid Diet has helped thousands of people around the world.
Now it is your turn. The Natural Thyroid Diet is available here today.
I can’t wait to share this invaluable information with you.
One of my best friends, Jen, who has known me since we cruised the night clubs together many years ago, also has Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. If you don’t already know, I have been battling Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, a debilitating autoimmune disease, for ten years now and have written a book, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, after I was getting nowhere with traditional medical care and started my own research. (Frustrating!) However, unlike me, Jen has been doing extremely well with dealing with her autoimmune disease. She is able to work at a very demanding job, jogs/runs almost every day, does volunteer work, makes her own wine, and travels for fun to exotic places. I was absolutely shocked this summer when instead of meeting up with her old gal pals in Upstate New York she changed her plans and met another friend to go hiking in Peru. (Here is the trip Jen took.Click Here ) Okay, she sent her husband and son as substitutes, and we did have a great time with them, but nevertheless, it wasn’t Jen. What shocked me even more than Jen picking Machu Picchu over us, is that she has Hashimoto’s disease and she can hike for a week in Peru!!! We talked on the phone yesterday and her description of the chaotic and miserable flights to Peru from San Francisco would have put me in the hospital but she handled it with no problem. Heck, I am jealous!
Upstate NY
So, what is Jen doing that is different from the rest of the Hashimoto’s sufferers that allows her to have a normal life? I asked her probing questions as in what are you eating? What time do you go to bed? Jen says she stays away from gluten, sugar, and processed foods. I know this for a fact because years ago we were boating and came across some friends barbecuing on an island and I, dragging friends along, self-invited us to the barbecue. They were serving hotdogs, and there is nothing better than a grilled hotdog on an island in the middle of a lake on a summer day. I dove into mine but Jen turned hers down. I looked at her in shock as in how-could-you but she said, and I quote, “I don’t eat that kind of stuff.”
Now this was years before I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s so I was totally perplexed by that statement, but then again, I was blissfully living a life that was healthy even though I was eating and drinking anything I wanted with no ill effects. Jen had already been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and I had no idea what she was dealing with. Unfortunately, I was soon to find out. No, it’s not contagious but it is happening in epidemic proportions. I used to joke that I could start a thyroid support group because so many of my friends had thyroid problems. We compare what medicine we are taking and the dosages. I am taking 135 mcg of Tirosint and Cytomel. Most of my friends are on Synthroid. So why are so many (mostly women) suffering from autoimmune disease such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis? We seem to be way ahead of the curve as far as other countries. My friends from England say that they know no one with Hashimoto’s and I have heard this is true in other countries, so the USA must be doing something differently. Some say it is the food we are eating. All the BGH (bovine growth hormones), the GMO’s, the fast foods, and I guess you could say the substandard foods that we are consuming in abundance. However, there are a lot of people who are consuming crappy food (excuse my language) and seem to be doing okay, and how I envy them. Then there are they thyroid experts that say that there is a genetic propensity that has to be present too for thyroid disease. Is that it? I have a genetic maker that makes me more prone to disease?
Jen said that she believes it is important to exercise and to keep busy. I too have tried to exercise with disastrous results as in having stay in bed for three days after 18 holes of golf. What I have is called post-exertion exhaustion as my body cannot recover quickly from exercise. On good days I can walk around the block but on bad days I have a tough time making it out to the mailbox. Hiking the Andes would definitely not be something I can do. Also, working a full-time job is something I am many other Hashimoto’s patients cannot do and I noticed in the Facebook support groups that some are on disability. Most of us drag ourselves through the day. I feel sorry for younger women who have Hashimoto’s disease as they have young families and are trying to do it all, as they were doing before being diagnosed. How they cope, I do not know? As far as keeping busy I do keep a pretty full schedule. I take care of an aging parent, a large house, multiple real estate holdings, and blogging websites for kicks. Sometimes when I am feeling good for a length of time, I will take on more obligations or projects only to realize I was taking on too much when I have what we Hashimoto’s sufferers call, a relapse. When that occurs I feel like lying in bed all day but I push myself to do as many chores or errands I can do that particular day. Compared to what I used to accomplish, it is now a dismal amount. I have learned to accept my physical limitations but vowed to research and try different remedies until I find a “cure.” Until then I will take one day at a time and hope for a better tomorrow.
a key point in life longevity. Here are the 9 key characteristics: Power 9 principles from The Blue Zones:
If you are like most people with a low thyroid disorder you feel robbed of energy, you get easily stressed out, your hair is falling out by the handful and you have a constant brain fog.
D5 Creation