Always Buy Organic

I just came across something, and wanted to pass it along to you. As you probably know, Groupon is the fastest growing company ever, and recently turned down an offer of $6 billion from Google after just two years in business. They offer a Daily Deal with offers from local businesses of 50%- 70% off for a variety of products and services including restaurants, spas, sporting events, and more. I personally use Groupon and look forward to the Daily Deal.

There is a new company called The Customer Advantage that is getting ready to launch a similar Daily Deal service, but with one major difference. Instead of KEEPING the money like Groupon does, The Customer Advantage shares the revenues with everyone that is a member of their service( which is ALWAYS FREE) based on how many people you refer.

The program is pretty simple. Here is how it works:

1. You sign up to be a member of the The Customer Advantage at http://organicfreak.thecustomeradvantage.com/ It is free to signup and there is never an obligation to buy anything.

2. They will create a similar signup page for you (i.e. yourname.thecustomeradvantage.com ) to forward to your family, friends, school, church, business, etc.

3. Once they begin offering their Daily Deals, you and everyone you sign up with receive a daily email with special offers of 50% to 70% off from products and services in your area.

4. You are paid 5% of the purchases made by up to five levels of signups. For example:

1. Say you signup 10 people directly (technically you need to sign up 15 people to get paid on the fifth level, but to keep the math simple let’s assume only 10 of those become actively involved)

2. And those 10 people each signup 10 people - you would have 100 people in your group.

3. And those 100 people each signed up 10 people - you would have 1,000 people in your group.

4. If those 1,000 signed up 10 people each - you would have 10,000 people in your group.

5. If those 10,000 people each signed up 10 people - you would have 100,000 people in your group.

You would receive 5% of any purchases made by any of those 100,000 people. If the average person spent $10 per month that would mean the purchasing in your group would be $1,000,000 per month and you would receive 5% of that or $50,000 per month. I’m sure it won’t be that easy( but it definitely doesn't seem hard at all), even if you made several thousand dollars per month for referring some of your friends to this, it is not a bad deal. Since it is free to signup, you have nothing to lose.

The site just started recently and already has almost 45,000 members and it is growing daily. They expect to have 10 million members by the end of the year. The sooner you get started the better chance you have of growing your member group.

There is NO RISK and no obligation of any kind. Signup today and start getting great Daily Deals .......in addition to making money $$$$ !

Go to http://organicfreak.thecustomeradvantage.com/ and you will be forwarded to our The Customer Advantage signup page.

I just figure.....what do we have to lose! and all to gain !!

Blessings

Besides eating healthy my husband and I are involved with Growers First. They are a non-profit organization that is dedicated to helping the extreme poor.

Shayne Moore will be speaking at the Growers First. annual event this October 23rd.

Check out this great interview with ONE member and all-around awesome soccer mom Shayne Moore which aired on CNN. In it she discusses how she got involved with ONE and how she’s doing her part to combat extreme poverty: http://bit.ly/9FS3u3

You can Pre-purchase her book "Global Soccer Mom: Changing the World is Easier Than You Think"

My copy is on its way!

Well we finished our cleanse.  I didn't write day to day because there wasn't much to tell.  I really thought there would be much more activity going on, but everything was normal.  I'm sure we may be a bit healthier, but no noteable change.  Eddie lost 5 lbs., and I lost 1 lb.  I guess we are a little disappointed, and really want to look into a really good cleanse. 
I will research that, and bring up at a later date

Cleansing is very important for your digestive system.  Toxin load builds up from exposure to the air, water, and food.  Excess toxins can make you feel lethargic, tired, run down and can impact your health negatively.  It's also important for absorption of nutrients into your body.  I picked Garden of Life Perfect Cleanse because its Organic, gentle and convenient with a 10 day program. 
So this is the third evening, and our full second day.  I don't want to get too graphic, but lets just say we both had a very eventful day as far as bowel movements go.  Nothing  that looked out of the ordinary like I have read from other cleanses just very eventfull.  This is only the second full day though. 
I'll be reporting tomorrow...stay tuned!

We decided to start a 10 day cleanse, and we started yesterday.  In case anyone is thinking about starting a cleanse, I thought I would blog our little journey.  We are using "Garden of Life."  I know there are several cleanses out there, but I love the Garden of Life vitamins and probiotics so I thought we would try their cleanse.
There are 3 steps.  Purify, Capture, and Remove.  They are all taken at night.  The 3 purify pills are taken a half hour before dinner, the capture you drink a half hour after dinner, and the Remove is 3 pills before you go to sleep. 
Monday, our first evening we followed all our steps.  Our first full day was normal.  There was nothing unusual. 
Tuesday evening we are just experiencing a little stomach gurgle, and maybe a little gas.  We have taken our 3 steps tonight.  Nothing really to report.  The instructions say there will not be much movement until the third day.
See you back here tomorrow night for our update.

I always felt that drinking your fruits and vegetables in a smoothie were far more nutritious than juicing from all the research I have read. Thus I use my vita-mix every morning! Juices are not a complete food; humans could not live on juices alone. Very often juices have unbalanced amounts of sugar. Contrary to juices, green smoothies are a complete food.


Has anyone ever heard of The Raw Family?? They are doing a great work getting the word out about drinking your fruits and vegetables. They have quite a testimony. Their book, "Green for Life" has great information, and "Green Smoothie Revolution "  
Here are some great points for drinking smoothies:

1. Green smoothies are very nutritious. The ratio in them is optimal for human consumption; about 60% ripe organic fruit mixed with about 40% organic greens.

2. Green smoothies are easy to digest. When blended well, most of the cells in the greens and fruits are ruptured, making the valuable nutrients easy for the body to assimilate. Green smoothies literally start to get absorbed in your mouth.

3. Green smoothies, as opposed to juices, are a complete food because they still have fiber. Consuming fiber is important for our elimination system. Remember when you are drinking your smoothie it is as if you are eating a meal...it is raw food

4. Green smoothies belong to the most palatable dishes for all humans of all ages. With a ratio of fruits to veggies as 60:40 the fruit taste dominates the flavor, yet at the same time the greens balance out the sweetness of the fruit, adding a nice zest to it. People who eat a standard American diet enjoy the taste of green smoothies. They are usually quite surprised that something so green could taste so nice.

5. A molecule of chlorophyll closely resembles a molecule of human blood. According to teachings of Dr. Ann Wigmore, consuming chlorophyll is like receiving a healthy blood transfusion. Many people do not consume enough greens, even those who stay on a raw food diet. By drinking two or three cups of green smoothies daily you will consume enough greens for the day to nourish your body, and all of the beneficial nutrients will be well assimilated.

Are you on Lipitor, or any of the many statin drugs??  How has it happened that so many people of age fifty-plus suddenly needs a statin drug?
Why statins don't help heart disease.  It's a series of events.  Aging people overexpress a molecule called nuclear factor kappa beta (NFkB), which then ignites a lethal cascade through the body.  NFkB acts like a switch to turn "on" inflammation if you live an unhealthy lifestyle with a poor diet, but it turns "off" the inflammation switch if you are in good health.
Okay so statins do inhibit NFkB, which is why it seems that it works, but by inhibiting NFkB, it also inhibits the effectiveness of our immune system, which is so important and matters because the immune system is our defense system.  Because of this, inflammation can run out of control, causing many things, but most importantly...heart disease.  It inhibits our Co-Q10, which is our most important and essential nutrient.
Statins can:

• alter the immune system
• inhibit Co-Q10 production, which leads to loss of nerve function, muscle disease, and pain in more than one nerve
• cause inflammation of the muscles (myositis and deadly rhabdomyolysis)
• lead to breakdowns in muscle fiber and the release of myoglobin, which blocks the kidneys
• cause brain damage, dementia, and memory lapses
• Cholesterol is our sole source for our sex hormones.  Statins inhibit cholesterol production, and we now know that statins deplete testerone. Slowly the sex drive will go away...uuumm...unacceptable!

We have come to expect statin side effects such as liver damage, muscle pain, nerve damage, and heart failure, but the cognitive side effects from statin drugs are unexpected by both patient and physician.  Sometmes systems begin right away, and in other cases several years might pass before the the onset of symptoms.
We have to stop looking at cholesterol as the sole culprit in heart disease.  Inflammation is more directly linked to heart problems.  We need an abundant supply of cholesterol in our bodies for proper functioning.
Statins may lower cholesterol, but at what cost??  With all the negative side effects associated with statins, the whole idea needs to be rethought.
Omega -3's, Co-Q10, and a healthy diet is a great start to preventing heart disease.  Cut back on saturated fats, trans fats, and omega-6 fats, and cut out chemicals.
Go to "spacedoc.net" by Dr. Duane Graveline for great information on statin drugs.  Read, read, read and educate yourself.

My husband loves the meals I make him, but I think it's all in the spices.  Spices are huge in making tasty meals, but there is so much more to spices in regards to your health.

A big component to our diet is that we average three spices per meal.  Meaning put organic cayenne pepper on your brown rice, turmeric or cumin on your eggs, sage in your soups,  cinnamon in your smoothies or yogurt.  Spices improve the density of nutritional foods.  The more nutritious the food is, the more nutrients in it, the better.  Every time you put three or four spices in a meal you have just upgraded your food.  You have made it a superfood.
Per Dr. Eric Braverman, you should go out and spend $50.00 in spices and $50.00 in herbal teas.  There are over four thousand flavonoids that have been discovered in teas that are all anti-flammatory, but there are also anti-flammatories all over the place: oranges, carrots, nutrients, teas.  Dr. Eric Braverman in Suzanne Somer's, "Breakthrough", recommends drinking four or five cups of herbal tea a day.  Greentea is a cornerstone, but so is turmeric, or cumin, all the spices, they're all good.
According to Dr. Russell Blaylock, Flavonoids provide powerful protection against cancer and other diseases.  Flavonoids are plant pigments responsible for the color of flowers, fruits, and sometimes leaves.  Researchers believe the flavonoids that plants supply provide the natural anti-flammatory and antioxidant magic bullet so important for health.
Following are foods that contain flavonoids:  Onions, Lettuce (whole plant), garlic (bulb), Cabbage, Basil, Kale, Spinach, Lima Bean (all leafs), Brussels sprouts, Kohirabi (shoot), Asparagus (root), Fennel (fruit), Kidney Bean, Garden pea (shoot) and Adzuki seed.
Herbs that contain flavonoids:  Dill (seed), Tea (whole plant), Thyme (whole plant), Cayenne, Corander, Peppermint, Chamomile, Anise.
A little side note on Sea Salt:  Consume at least a teaspoon of sea salt every day and drink enough water.  This combined with exercise will keep your lymph system from clogging up, and the lymph system is paramount to your health.  Don't be afraid of sea salt - there is very little sodium, and it is 97 percent minerals.  Celtic sea salt and pink salt are the best.
Now, go out and spice up your meals, and enjoy your healthy superfoods!

In all my reading I have come to find out many things that should not be in our foods.

1.  MSG
2.  High Fructose Corn Syrup
3.  Hydrogenated oils

MSG has many other names that you may not know about.  If negative information comes out on MSG they come up with another substance that in most cases has MSG in it.  Following are some of them.

1.  hydrolyzed vegetable protein
2.  caseinate
3.  autolyzed yeast extract
4.  beef or Chicken broth
5.  natural flavoring
6.  soy protein
7.  soy isolates
8.  soy protein isolates
9.  soy protein concentrates

The government regulatory agencies allow food manufacturers to call these excitotoxin additives by any name they choose as long as the glutamate content is less than 99 percent pure.
Excitotoxins can and do cause brain damage.  These chemicals literally excite the neurons  to death, which is why they call them excitotoxins.  Their regular consumption can cause brain damage and cancer. 
It may seem that each item we buy does not have enough to hurt us, but remember, almost everything that is packaged, bagged, boxed and so on is processed, and may have MSG in one form or another.

Suzanne Somers does a great job interviewing Drs. with a wealth of information.  This information is in her book Breakthrough.  It will change your way of eating for sure!

I thought I would inform my readers on the synthetic cosmetic ingredients known or strongly suspected of causing cancer, birth defects or endocrine disruption. When it comes to these chemicals in your cosmetics, don't use them!  Most women expose themselves to at least 168 chemicals a day with products they use.  Europe has banned 1109 chemicals in its personal care products-including sodium laurel sulphate, found in most shampoos. The FDA has banned the use of 10 chemicals in US personal care products.  We deserve the same safe products that the Europeans have! 9 out of 10 ingredients used in personal care products in the US have not been evaluated for safety.
These toxins are at the top of the list...please read your labels:
1.Methyl and Propyl and Butyl and Ethyl Paraben. Linked to breast cancer.
2.Imidazolindyl Urea. Impurities linked to cancer.
3.Diazolindyl Urea. Allergies/immunotoxicity.
4.Petrolatum. Can cause highly allergic reactions.
5.Propylene Glycol. Alters skin structure for enhanced skin absorption. A skin irritant that can cause allergic reactions. Irritation.
6.PVP/V Copolymer.
7.Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. Non-reproductive organ system toxicity, irritation. Changes skin structure which allows chemicals to penetrate more deeply into skin.
8.Stearalkonium Chloride. Non-reproductive organ system toxicity, neurotoxicity, and irritation.
9.Synthetic colors. Developmental/reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity, and non-reproductive organ system toxicity. For example, synthetic colors may be listed as the following: FD&C Blue 1 Aluminum Lake or D&C Red 27 Lake.
10.Synthetic fragrances. Neurotoxicity, allergies/immunotoxicity, and other concerns.
11.Phthalates. Developmental/reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity, hormone disruption, allergies/immunotoxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation, and non-reproductive organ system toxicity. Linked to reproductive birth defects in baby boys. May damage lungs, liver, kidneys.
12.Triethanolamine. May form carcinogenic compounds called nitrosamines in the body after absorbed - also among the most potent cancer-causing agents found.
The following are some brands that do not have these toxins:
1.Nurture my body
2.Suki
3.California Baby
4.Zum Body
5.Zum Bar
6. Earthmama
7. Jane Iredale
8.Lavera
9.Tropical Traditions
10.Weleda
11. Weleda Baby
12.Emani

Okay everyone...Go out and get healthy!!

Food inc., in my opinion, is a must see. You will understand completely why our children are getting diseases such as: Diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, leukemias, cancers, and so on.
A few truths are:
1. One hamburger pattie comes from thousands of different cows.
2. Monsanto made round-up weed killer, they sprays it on soybean...that chemical is in 90% of products.
3. Wheat, corn, and soybean are in 90% of our products.
4. 1 in 3 americans born after the year 2000 will have diabetes.
5. Tyson, Swift, Cargill and National beef control meat and how it is raised.
6. Beef and chicken from the companies named above are genetically changed.
7. PLEASE SEE FOOD INC.!
A couple of great books to read:  "The Omnivore's Delimma" and "Fastfood Nation"
I don't want to appear paranoid about our food, I just want to educate myself as to why everyone is getting so sick, so young.  I look at it as preventive medicine.  I know that someday I am going to die...I just want to stay healthy while I am alive!...don't you??

We start out with a fruit/veggie smoothie EVERY morning! It is the best way to start your day. I use my Vita-mix for all my mixing needs. It is one of the best investment I have ever made. Remember you are investing in your health today so hopefully your golden years will be golden and not spent in the hospital.
I always try to buy organic, but eating fruits and veggies that are not organic are still better than not eating them at all. I usually always put in an orange, watermelon, pineapple, and then I pick a berry...strawberries, blueberries, raspberries...etc.  Grapes are extremely nutritious and filled with anti-oxidents. I trade may veggies...spinach, kale, chard, wheatgrass, cabbage...a cup or 2. Put in a cup or so of ice and blend. In the beginning if it is not sweet enough for you, add a couple of dates or a banana.
You will not believe how your body will start to feel. Your aches and pains will start going away because you are feeding your body anti-oxidents, and nutrients that help with inflammation in your body. We don't wake up in the morning achey anymore and our joints don't hurt. Your skin will feel softer. Much more energy. These are some of the advantages we have seen.

I have a lesson for my readers today...five words: Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil.

We use coconut oil to cook EVERYTHING! We use it for cooking, frying, sauteing, for our skin, for our hair, taking off make-up, baking...etc.

Independent laboratory analysis show Tropical Traditions to be one of the highest quality coconut oils on the market, having the highest levels of antioxidants, twice as high as any sold on the market today. All coconut oils contain large amounts of lauric acid, usually around 50%. While Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil has test as high as 62%. Lauric acid is found in breast milk. Coconut oil is one of the best oils to use in cooking, because it does not break down easily, and it's organic too!

As a "functional food," coconut oil is now being recognized by the medical community as a powerful tool against immune diseases. For more info on coconut oil go to: http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/coconut_oil_healthy.htm

Found a very interesting site that lists the pestisides in our food...Read More!

Well we have been really busy this last year so we have not took the time to concentrate on this blog but recently we have been asked to post our research about organic eating and the recipes that Linda has been creating lately.


During the last year, Ed has been heavily involved with Twitter and has been trying to get people to look at creating a healthier lifestyle for themselves and their families.


Ed's Twittername is OrganicFreak. As of this post he has 10,850 followers that he has the potential to communicate with.


Also during the last year we became Grandparents to John Jeremiah Shaeffer!

The statement; “You never think it will happen to you”, is so true. After an abnormal mammogram, I underwent numerous tests, prodding, poking, and a biopsy to find out I had abnormal cells in my breast. According to the Dr, the pathologist recommends I have the abnormal cells taken out because it may be a feeding ground for cancer. So an operation was scheduled and out came the abnormal cells. Thanks to God, there was no cancer to be found.


I then started my search on how I can keep myself healthy through organic, whole foods and organic vitamins & supplements so that cancer would not have a chance to survive in my body. So through my research I found out just how many chemicals and toxin we take in on a daily basis. It’s in the air, in our homes, and in our food. There is just no way to completely eliminate it from our lives, but we can do everything we can to eat the right organic foods and take supplements to combat the diseases that wreak havoc in our bodies.


Our mission is to provide links to products and information at http://www.alwaysbuyorganic.com/ that will help fight off these free radicals with all natural organic ways. We hope to provide knowledge in helping our bodies to have a fighting chance in this toxic world we now live in.


Blessings to all,


Ed & Linda