October 2005 e-News from Healthy Homes

The children and I are enjoying a little school holiday this week. We took a short trip to Indiana to visit Glen’s parents, and close friends of ours from Florida. They’re up in Indiana this month because the husband, John, is helping my friend’s parents harvest their crops this month. As we were driving back to Grandpa & Grandma’s after meeting with them, we noticed many other farmers out harvesting their corn and soybeans. My kids love watching the process of harvest – the combines chopping down the plants, the grain streaming into the trucks, the contrast of cleared fields already harvested and tall corn stalks waiting their turn.

We’re also enjoying the harvest from Grandpa and Grandma’s garden – especially the green beans and sweet corn! But we need more than just green beans and sweet corn to be healthy, which is why we choose to supplement with these products.

In this month’s newsletter…

1. A Healthy Harvest

2. Breast Cancer Awareness

3. Mainstream media recognizes the need for nutrition

4. 10% on the 10^th

1. A Healthy Harvest

Ideally, we would eat the best produce from the richest soils in the world. But not many of us have the budget to travel the world to do that! Fortunately, this company does the traveling for you – gathering the most potent sources of flavonoids and arotonoids, like:

*Wild blueberries from Nova Scotia (which produce anthocyanidins)

*Oil of palm from Malaysia (for alpha and beta carotene)

*Marigolds from Thailand (which produce lutein)

*Green tea from China (which yields flavan-3-ols)

*Fava d’anta from Brazil (which produces quercetin

And don’t worry about possible contamination – this company extensively tests all the raw ingredients AND final products to ensure quality and consistency.

One serving of this company’s cartenoid and flavonoid products provide more antioxidant potency than consuming hundreds of fruits and vegetables. You could travel the world for the best nutrients in the world – or you could order these cartenoid and flavonoid products. Now that’s a healthy harvest that will lead to a healthy you!

2. Breast Cancer Awareness

More and more people are investigating natural ways to combat cancer, looking for ways to protect themselves from getting cancer, or for ways to strengthen their bodies during radiation or chemotherapy. One way to do that is with antioxidants. Antioxidants help protect cells from free radical damage.

These two products are chock-full of phytonutrients that provide a broad spectrum of high-power antioxidants.

Plus, when you buy these products this month, Shaklee will donate $1 to breast health research done by Dr. Rache Simmons at one of the top-ranked clinical and medical research centers in the United States.

“At 36 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After two lumpectomies and a mastectomy, my body was exhausted. I was physically and emotionally drained. My neice… started me on a vitamin program that included [this company's multivitamin, vitamin C, vitamin E, immune building product, cartenoid product and B complex. My incision started healing much quicker. I was able to begin chemotherapy, which had been delayed due to infection concerns. I received one of the strongest treatments possible. I had trouble with nausea and exhaustion and stopped taking the vitamins. After my blood work showed my white blood cell counts were dangerously low, I started taking them again. My oncologist was shocked at how quickly I recovered. After each treatment when my white blood cell count dipped, it returned to normal within 10 days. She asked what I was doing and told me to continue to take this company's vitamins since they were working great for me. I think this company is incredible.” –Regina Coates in Healthy Women booklet

3. Mainstream Media recognizes the need for nutrition.

A couple of short articles in the Sunday paper caught my eye.

Zinc helps kids think

More zinc may help your child learn faster, says James G. Penland, a researcher at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center.

In a new study, he gave 209 seventh-graders a morning glass of fruit juice – either plain or fortified with 10 or 20 milligrams of zinc. Kids who drank the 20mg-zinc juice daily for three months did best on a battery of computer tests of mental and motor skills. Compared with students who had plain juice, the 20mg-zinc drinkers improved twice as much on a visual memory test and three times as much on word recognition.

The bottom line: The optimal learning dose in this study was 20mg, more than previously thought needed. (USA Weekend, Sept. 9-11, 2005)

This company's zinc contains 15mg and easily dissolves in juice. Combine with this company's children chewable multivitamin (which contains 10mg) to help your child think more clearly. Do be careful, because zinc can be toxic at high levels (100mg).

B saves aging brains

Taking 800 micrograms of folic acid (a B vitamin) every day might help keep your brain from going into cognitive decline as you get older. That’s the landmark finding of a Dutch study.

More than 800 people ages 50 to 70 who took an 800mcg foic acid pill daily for three years scored better on cognitive tests than those on a placebo. In fact, the folic acid users scored as well on memory tests as people five years younger. And they processed info as fast as people two years younger.

One explanation: In the study, folic acid lowered blood levels of homocysteine by 25%. High homocysteine is tied to increased risk of heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s. (USA Weekend, Sept. 30 – Oct. 2, 2005)

Folic acid is difficult for your body to absorb, which is why this company's B complex has a patented folic acid coating, making it easier for your body to absorb the folic acid you need. Plus, this company’s B Complex contains 100% of ALL the B vitamins – even the expensive ones that other brands skimp on.

September 2005 Healthy Homes e-newsletter

School is back in session and our fall routine is kicking into gear this week. I have lots of projects to finish on my house. But, whenever I feel overwhelmed, I am reminded to be thankful. Thankful for simple things like running water, a roof over my head, beds for my children to sleep in, food to eat. My heart goes out to those in New Orleans, southern Mississippi and southern Alabama whose lives are still in chaos because of Hurricane Katrina.

1) Words from Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai

2) Strategies for staying well this winter

1) Words from Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai

One woman who has dedicated her life to a better environment for her fellow countrywomen is Wangari Maathai, the first environmentalist and African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

I was privileged to hear Wangari speak at the recent company convention in Chicago. I wanted to share a few words of her speech.

“It is humbling to know that Dr. Shaklee was preaching the philosophy of preventive medicine in harmony with nature long before environmentalism became fashionable. As members of the extended family of Shaklee you have inherited a great legacy and I am very impressed by your way of sustaining it and allowing it to grow to greater heights.

“Great ideas do not die with their sources, but it takes great people to keep them alive, visible and successful. You are such a people and I honor you and your chairman for your commitment. …

“Watch out for me and do not leave me behind: I will be the one in green planting trees along the way!

“Since I joined you at this convention, I have felt a deep connection with you and the company you have created. I feel that w are walking a similar path and toward the same goal of improving the quality of life of other people even as we improve our own. I salute you for your determination to do the right thing for yourselves, the earth and humanity. Wise men and women everywhere teach that going beyond self, reaching out to others and attending to their needs bring the greatest satisfaction for a life well lived. Indeed the idea that eventually developed into the Green Belt Movement was started in an effort to serve others.”

You can read the rest of Wangari’s speech here. She explains how she got started planting trees and how that led to a change in the government in her country of Kenya.

I wrote down several quotes from her speech I enjoyed. One of my favorites is this: “Dealing with only symptoms is not enough. We must deal with both causes and symptoms.” This is true in every aspect of life – from parenting to preventing illness.

3) Strategies for staying well this winter.

I’ve had a couple of people call me this month, asking how I keep my family well. I thought it might be a good topic for a newsletter, then my husband got strep throat (for the third time in eight months!). While at the doctor’s office getting him antibiotics, the doctor decided he wanted to test the rest of us to see if any of us were carrying the strep bacteria and reinfecting Glen.

Imagine our surprise when the tests came back positive for ALL of us! NONE of the rest of us have been sick with strep, but we had been reinfecting Glen over the course of these months.

After we all got in the van, Glen said, “It goes to show how eating right and taking your vitamins really helps.” It’s so true! Glen had been stressed out in July, with our new house and work issues – he had quit eating breakfast and stopped taking his vitamins that month. Lo and behold, he got sick again.

Meanwhile, the rest of us have had the strep bacteria in our system for who knows how long. But, we were eating right and taking our vitamins, and none of us got sick. In fact, we all felt worse once we got on antibiotics.

As a mom, I don’t have the luxury of being sick, or even FEELING sick. So what’s my strategy for staying well?

1) Air purifier: kills viruses and bacteria in the air. Plus, it destroys the gases, and drops all the “floaties” out of the air. You can read more at www.thebestairpurifierinfo.com

2) "box and a can": Includes a multi-vitamin, B complex, sustained release vitamin-C, vitamin-E complex and Soy Protein. These nutrients work to bring your body back in balance. Plus, a protein “shake” (as my kids call them) in the morning keeps me going all morning, with no mid-morning crash.

3) a patented immune builder: this product is astounding. It naturally increases the interferon response in your body – your immune system’s first line of defense. I tried to stop taking it this summer, but within days my allergy symptoms started up again. I started right back up on it. To learn more about interferon, check out www.naturalinterferon.com. The video is especially informative.

4) Extra multi-vitamin, B complex, echinacea, garlic & alfalfa: yes this is a long list, but when I start to feel run down, or a bit of a sore throat coming on, I want to hit it with all I’ve got. These extra nutrients, plus the echinacea (to jump start the immune system), Garlic (natural antiviral, antibacterial) and Alfalfa (natural anti-inflammatory, plus other benefits), give my body the extra ammunition it needs to fight off the “bad guys.”

My strategy for the children is slightly different… more about that next month

August 2005 Healthy Homes e-newsletter

I don’t know about you, but this has been one crazy summer for me! We’ve bought a house, worked on the house for a month, then just moved in at the end of July. Needless to say, this house has pretty much consumed our lives this summer. Now, we have lots of boxes to unpack, including many that have been in storage for a year and a half. On one hand, it’ll be like Christmas. On the other hand, I’ve lived without it for over a year, do I really need to unpack it? We’ll be slowly unpacking for several months yet, I’m sure.

Needless to say, I’ve not had much time to gather information for this month’s newsletter. Here’s an abbreviated one, and I’ll send out a “supplemental” newsletter after the annual convention next week. I’m sure I’ll have lots of exciting information to share!

In this month’s e-News:

1. Companies Rely on Doctors to Increase Sales

2. Time to Prepare for Fall Allergy Season

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1. Companies Rely on Doctors to Increase Sales.

This article from the Wall Street Journal came across my e-mail recently, and I found it interesting. I don’t necessarily think the practice is wrong, but it does help to be informed of what’s happening in the medical world. Information is power.

NEW YORK (July 15) - On a recent Wednesday evening, neurologist Lawrence Newman spoke to a dozen doctors in a private alcove off the soaring dining room of Guastavino's and made the case that migraine headaches are seriously underdiagnosed.

Migraine treatment "should be bread and butter for primary-care doctors," he told attendees at the midtown Manhattan restaurant. While patients might say they're having a sinus headache, there's a good chance it's actually a migraine and can be treated with a migraine drug, Dr. Newman said.

It was a message friendly to migraine-drug makers, and no wonder: The sponsor of the talk was GlaxoSmithKline PLC, maker of the \ best-selling migraine pill Imitrex. Glaxo picked up the tab for dinner, paid Dr. Newman a fee, supplied some of his slides, and scattered Imitrex notepads on the table.

Across the U.S., thousands of doctors such as Dr. Newman, an associate professor of clinical neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, have signed up as part-time lecturers for drug companies. At small meetings, often over lunch or dinner, these physician-pitchmen tell their peers about diseases and the drugs to treat them, often pocketing $750 or more from the sponsor. Dr. Newman declined to discuss his fee.

Read the rest of the article here.

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2. Start now preparing for fall allergies!

It’s hard to think about the fall with summer still upon us, however a little work now could save you hours of agony later, especially if you or your loved one suffers from fall allergies like I do.

What’s my strategy?

First, an awesome and effective air purifier. It’s the best in the bunch – and one will do your whole house (up to 3,000 square feet). It doesn’t have a filter to clean, just a photoionization light that needs replacing once a year. Instead, this unit sends out electrons (remember your science class?) to bond with particles floating in your air. Once they bind, they become heavy, and drop to the floor, where you can vacuum or sweep them up. For the first several weeks, you’ll find you’ll have to dust and vacuum frequently, but then it will subside.

Second, build up my immune system. My favorite supplements to do that are:

"a box and a can" – everything you need to get your body in balance.

this immune builder - start taking about six weeks before allergy season to get your immune system in top condition.

alfalfa – for those days when I’m just miserable, I take 10 with breakfast. Depending on the day, if I need it, I’ll take another 10 at lunch, and another 10 at dinner. Believe it or not, it works. I’ll admit, it is a lot to take, but I’d rather take a food (alfalfa) than a drug with it’s possible side effects.

betacarotne and flavanoids are also helpful for building your immune system, as they are powerful antioxidants.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me.

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Thanks for reading. As always, please call me or e-mail me if you have any questions or concerns.

Healthy Homes Newsletter July 2005

I trust you all had an enjoyable Fourth of July. My family and I closed on our new house on Thursday, then left immediately to travel to Indiana and Ohio to enjoy some time with family. It was a quick trip, but very enjoyable. Now, we’re in the middle of ripping out carpeting and wallpaper in the new house. We hope to move at the end of this month. We are all very excited.

This month:

1. Aging Gracefully

2. Getting a Good Start

3. It’s a Mom’s World

4. Healthy Homes Promotion

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Aging Gracefully

An article in the June 13^th issue of US News & World Report discussed how to add years to your life. Their recommendations? Things we all know, or should know, but bears repeating.

The Right Foods: eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains (no Wonder Bread!), lean meats, fish, low-fat or no-fat dairy. note: if you’re like me, this doesn’t reflect your daily diet. My solution? Small steps. Buy whole grain bread first. Then, make the effort to add something raw to each meal you eat. The point is that taking one step at a time will get you there!

Moderate Exercise: get moving! Do something for at least 30 minutes on most days. Also, add strength and flexibility exercises.

Response to Stress: manage your stress with exercise, stretching, breathing or other stress-control techniques.

Visit the Doctor: regular check-ups and testing can catch life-threatening illnesses while they’re still treatable.

Smoking: Don’t do it! If you do, quit.

Friendship: Make an effort to maintain a network of friends.

And, “Don’t rely on unproven supplements to improve your health, … There’s a lot of hype and not a lot of science behind them.” Quite true, which is why I’m thankful for the company I represent. Scientists (both hired by the company and independent labs) test their products to make sure they produce the desired result.

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Getting a Good Start

Part of aging gracefully is getting a good start. This month, my website has a focus on children’s health. You’ll find testimonials and other features online. So, what do our children need for good health? Here’s what I give my children:

children’s chewable multi-vitamin (or powder for infants): The chewable vitamin provides 23 essential nutrients, including 100% of the B vitamins, trace minerals and much more. No artificial flavors or preservatives. Also, sugar-free – sweetened with xylitol and mannitol, which are actually good for teeth and help prevent tooth decay.

chewable calcium: Drinking milk isn’t enough! Prevent growing pains by giving your children calcium their bodies can absorb.

beneficial bacteria: An unbalanced diet or unfamiliar foods can upset the balance of beneficial bacteria in your child’s intestine. our product guarantees delivery of at least a half-billion live beneficial bacteria directly to the intestines.

meal shakes: Always on the go? These great-tasting shakes are “fast food without the guilt.” In fact, my husband loves them too.

I grew up on this chewable multi-vitamin and I loved it! My mom also found them valuable.

“When Michelle, Troy & Carrie were little, we ended up with two house payments for about nine months. In an effort to cut expenses, I stopped giving the children [this company's] vitamins. After a few months, I realized I had spent more time and money at the doctor’s office than I had spent on vitamins! I quickly ordered more, and our visits to the doctor’s office became much less frequent.”

My children love their vitamins. Even 23-month-old Isaac begs for his vitamins every morning.

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It’s a Mom’s World

A recent article at entrepreneur.com focused on moms who are starting their own businesses. Read the full article here. Some points I found interesting:

*While it’s difficult to balance building a business with raising children, there are strategies to make it happen.

*When considering what kind of business to start, consider your passion and interests. Good businesses for moms generally involve the Internet in some way.

*The moms interviewed involved their children in their businesses.

If you think you’d be interested in starting your own business, consider joining the Healthy Homes team with Project MAHMA.

Click here to find out more about Project MAHMA.

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Healthy Homes Promotion – 10% off on the 10^th

Don’t forget! We at Healthy Homes offer a great discount if you order your Shaklee products on the 10^th of the month. This month, the 10^th is on Sunday. You can order via Internet, by calling Shaklee direct, or by calling Michelle at 847-212-8824. We’ll mail you a check at the end of the month once your rebate reaches $10 or more.