Dear Readers,
I hope the winter finds you healthy and whole. For some of us, winter can be a time of moodiness through the long hours of darkness. There is a physical reason for this—it’s not just in your head. Read the article on vitamin D below and discover ways to protect your health for the long term and to beat the winter blues.
My new book, The Secret of Health: Breast Wisdom (written with Dr. Ben Johnson, who appeared in The Secret and published by Morgan James) is now officially launched, so you can find it online and at bookstores. If your favorite bookstore isn’t stocking it, ask them to. I think the excerpt in this month’s newsletter will give you an idea of how our thinking in general can have profound effects
on our health.
As always, I wish you health and abundance,
Kathleen
Beat the winter blues—and more—with vitamin D
We’ve all had the dangers of overexposure to the sun pounded into our brains until it finally stuck. But now science is beginning to tell us that constantly shielding our skin form the sun’s rays can have far reaching negative effects on our health.
If you faithfully slather on the sunscreen before you leave the house, even in winter, consider this: sunlight is our major source of vitamin D and 80% of Americans aren’t getting enough of it.
“Because our bodies can’t manufacture vitamin D, we need a steady intake of this essential nutrient, and we’re all especially deficient at the need of the winter because our stores have been used up,” says nutrition researcher Robert P. Heaney, M.D. of Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.
In fact some experts say the vitamin D deficiency in the U.S. is approaching epidemic proportions, especially since we became so conscious of protecting our skin from harmful ultraviolet rays, which are our major source of vitamin D.
The good news? You can easily remedy the problem by spending just 15 minutes in bright sunlight three times a week (not enough to burn even the most sensitive skins) or by taking a supplement that contains higher-than-recommended levels of D—about 1,000 IUs a day.
Get your daily dose of D and you’ll help stave off:
Winter depression. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a unique type of depression that is at its worst right now in the dead of winter when most of us have little or no time in direct sunlight and the levels of vitamin D in our blood drops by 30% or more. For years, expert recommended UV light boxes to help depressed people. But recent Canadian research shows
that supplementation with vitamin D in the cold months may be just as effective.
In fact, several studies show that taking 800 IU daily kept blood levels of vitamin D and moods on an even keel for most people.
Brittle bones. More than 25 million Americans are at risk for fractures, most of them women. A recent British study shows that the risk of bone fracture drops by 33% in healthy women who took at least 800 IUs of D a day. Plus, the New England Journal of Medicine recently reported that women who took 700 IUs of vitamin D a day over a three-year period reduced their risk of fractures by a whopping 250%! The National Institutes of Health tells us that normal bone is constantly being remodeled – broken down and rebuilt.
As women age, hormones fluctuations disrupt the remodeling process, causing more bone to be broken down than rebuilt. “Vitamin D and calcium go hand in hand in promoting healthy bones and proper remodeling,” says vitamin D researcher Michael Holick, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine at Boston University and author of The UV Advantage, (IBooks 2007).
Cancer. Several powerful recent studies suggest that vitamin D reduces the risk of several types of malignancies, including lung, colon, breast and prostate cancers. Blockbuster Harvard research shows breast cancers can be cut by 28% if you just get the proper amount of vitamin D. Almost every cell in your body has a receptor for vitamin D that helps this process
run smoothly, so when that process gets out of whack, cancers can develop.
“Vitamin D plays a role in the lifetimes of all cells, helping them to control growth and to reproduce without the changes that may turn them into cancer cells,” explains Dr. Heaney.
Joint pain. A Mayo Clinic study suggests that boning up on your vitamin D can help prevent a painful joint and muscle disorder that causes excruciating pain and is often confused for another joint problem. “I believe 40 to 60% of all people diagnosed with fibromyalgia are actually suffering from a vitamin D-deficiency caused disease called osteomalacia,” says Dr. Holick. This problem can be corrected, over time, with vitamin D supplementation.
If you’ve been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, ask your doctor to do a simple blood test to determine if you’re vitamin D deficient.
Hypertension. Preliminary research at Boston University suggests that proper levels of vitamin D may also lower blood pressure. Researchers aren’t sure exactly how it works, but subjects with mildly elevated blood pressure returned to normal readings when they were exposed to enough sunlight to bring their vitamin D to optimal levels. “We don’t know enough about
how this works just yet, but it’s safe to say that increasing your sun exposure is a good idea if you’ve got hypertension,” says Dr. Heaney.
Smooth skin. Dutch research shows that people suffering from psoriasis reduced their scratchy, itchy symptoms by 57% when they applied vitamin D ointment. That means it’s a good idea to put a little bit of naked skin in the sun, says Dr. Holick. It’ll dry up the problem and help build new and healthy skin cells. In the alternative, buy a tube of vitamin D ointment (often combined with vitamin A) at any drugstore.
Other research gives this wonder vitamin a role in preventing colds in infants, increasing muscle strength in athletes, and, probably the most interesting of all these effects, recent a French analysis of all the longevity research indicates that taking around 500 IU a day can actually reduce your risk of dying from any cause by 7%.
I know, 7% doesn’t sound like much, but I’ll take it. Along with the protection against cancer, stronger joints and a healthier cardiovascular system, what have we got to lose?
How to get your quota of the sunshine vitamin
The best way to get your vitamin D levels to peak performance is to spend some uncovered time in the sun. That doesn’t’ mean to lose the sunscreen, but exposing bare arms or legs and face to the ultraviolet B rays of the bright sun (late morning or early afternoon) just for just 15 minutes three times a week should do the trick, says Dr. Heaney. “You skin won’t burn in that time, so you’ll be getting what you need without risking skin cancers,” he says.
Want to make your time in sun more productive? Take a walk at lunchtime or spend a few minutes pulling weeds in your garden and add in the benefit of exercise.
To assure you have vitamin D stores to help you through the darker months when cold weather keeps you covered up and a weak sun has few UV rays, store up in the summer and, Dr. Heaney recommends, take 1,000 IU of vitamin D3, also called colecalciferol, every day.
There have been no toxic side effects reported at that level, but, as always, check with your doctor before taking vitamin D or any supplement.
Sweet news for chocolate lovers—and lovers!
It’s the food women crave most – and a traditional token of love on Valentine’s Day. But receiving that heart-shaped box of chocolates can do more than warm your heart. It can keep your ticker healthy and your spirits high and even prolong your life.
“What’s not to love about chocolate?” asks University of Scranton chocolate researcher Joe Vinson, Ph.D., professor of chemistry “It’s good for you and almost everybody loves it.”
Dark chocolate is the best medicine since it contains a wealth of antioxidants and little or no sugar. In fact, my own new indulgence is to slowly savor a couple ounces of a delicious cabernet sauvignon with a one-inch square of dark chocolate. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!
No doubt about, chocolate may be the best tasting “medicine” ever. There’s no need for guilt, even though half of us admit to craving it. Reap these health bonuses while you indulge:
A “sweet” heart: Recent research at Penn State shows chocolate also packed with heart-protecting and cancer fighting antioxidants including magnesium, polyphenols, arginine, but the standout component is phenylethylamine, an antioxidant that has been study-proven to actually lower LDL “bad” cholesterol by 8% and raise HDL “Good” cholesterol by 4%. “The antioxidants in chocolate make your arteries more relaxed, your blood platelets less sticky and less likely to clot and generally strengthen your cellular structure to prevent the deterioration of aging,” says Vinson.
A mellow mood: University of Arizona researchers found chocolate mimics the brain chemistry of romantic love. No wonder our sweethearts give it to us to get us “in the mood!”
Chocolate is a rich source of magnesium, theobromines, phenylethyamines, and caffeine, substances study proven to raise levels of mood-boosting serotonin and endorphins. British research shows chocolate’s magnesium alone may be as effective in beating depression
as some prescription antidepressants.
University of California at Davis nutrition researcher Liz Applegate, Ph.D., a self-confessed “chocoholic” recommends going dark. “Instead of those high-calorie low quality chocolates,
savor and enjoy a high quality dark chocolate. You’ll feel more satisfied and more mellow,” says Applegate, author of Eat Your Way to a Healthy Heart.
A longer life: Exciting Harvard research shows that folks who indulge in chocolate “fixes” actually live longer. Those who ate just three chocolate bars a month and a 36% lower risk of death from all causes than those who never ate it. Even those who indulged more, eating three or more candy bars a week, still live 16% longer than those who never ate candy. “Most of the
subjects in these chocolate studies ate the equivalent of a candy bar a day, so don’t feel like you’re overindulging unless you go beyond that level,” says Vinson.
Worried all that chocolate will pack on the pounds? Not to worry, says Annapolis, MD internal medicine specialist Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D. “The Swiss eat twice as much chocolate per person as Americans – 22 pounds a year—and have one of the lowest obesity rates in the world,” says Dr. Teitelbaum, author of From Fatigued to Fantastic.
Your mind does matter to your health
From The Secret of Health: Breast Wisdom (written with Dr. Ben Johnson, who appeared in The
Secret)
More secrets from The Healing Codes™
Note: Many of you are familiar with the blockbuster DVD and book, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne and featuring the guidance of many wise people, including my co-author, Ben Johnson, M.D., D.O., N.M.D. The secret of The Secret is the Law of Attraction or, to put it very simply, what you think about is what you manifest in your life. Although this book is about breast health, its lessons are universal truths that apply to everyone.
Dr. Ben writes more about how your thought patterns can affect your physical health in this excerpt from chapter 1 of our book:
Now let’s take The Secret™ a step further. In my work with Dr. Alexander Loyd, we’ve found The Healing Codes™, a simple system that can bring about healing of deep-seated memories that are stored in our cells. We believe the heart is the seat of our unconscious and subconscious minds. Science calls this cell memory.
These cellular memories contain wrong beliefs about ourselves, others, life and God. These beliefs create physiological stress. With enough stress over time, something physical is often the first thing to give, usually resulting in health problems.
The Healing Code is a physical mechanism built into the human body that consistently and predictably removes stress from the body. The Healing Codes activate what appears to work like a hidden fuse box. Stress breaks the circuit and the codes flip the correct switches open, allowing the healing of almost any illness.
We believe, and we have support from Dr. Bruce Lipton, a Stanford biologist who may have been the first person to identify spiritual heart issues from a scientific perspective, that if you heal the wrong belief that causes stress, illness and disease can heal as well.
To give just one example that is really pertinent to many women: If you believe that you are not worthy of love, you are believing a lie and denying the truth of who you really are. By re-connecting the circuit and ending that belief in a very simply way, the stress (or the lie) is removed and you are healed. Then you can live life from a different place.
We’ll be giving you much more detail about The Healing Codes™ in Chapter 5. For now, just keep these concepts in your consciousness:
If you hold limiting beliefs, you are not basking in the perfect physical, emotional and spiritual health that is everyone’s birthright. Using some simple tools to change those beliefs will bring about healing on all levels.
Thinking of your breasts in a different way
I think women in general continuously ask themselves, “Am I good enough?”
This absolutely includes their breasts. This deep seated fear of inadequacy
among 21st century women who juggle home, family, work, volunteerism, wisdom
and courage would be a laughing matter if it weren’t so serious. It’s wrecking
women’s health.
So we can take the lessons of the Law of Attraction and apply them to our way of thinking about our breasts.
If we’re constantly worrying about whether they’re big enough or firm enough or whether I might get cancer, we’re creating energetic patterns that directly affect our health.
Dr. Ben has noticed in his practice that people who fear cancer the most, have a greater risk of getting cancer. Their minds are continually chanting a Fear of Cancer mantra and so you can imagine what they often receive.
Imagine what it would be like if all women thought of their breasts as whole and healthy and perfect just as they are. Imagine, even more importantly, that we could heal the feelings of anger, fear, frustration and pain and re-set our cellular memories to messages of health and wholeness? We think the rate of breast cancer would decrease dramatically.
That’s exactly what we are presenting to you here.
Contents of this page are copyrighted, and may be used freely, if unedited and with attribution as follows:
Source: Kathleen Barnes, www.kathleenbarnes.com
The content provided by this site is for informational purposes only and has not been approved by the U.S. FDA. This site is not intended to provide personal medical advice, which should be obtained from a medical professional.
Kathleen will be posting a new newsletter edition every month. Fill in the information below to subscribe to her email list.
