(Writtten for Ladies Going Green Online Magazine)
We can survive for weeks without food but not for long without water. Our bodies are made up of 60-70 percent water. But, is it healthy to drink?
Bottled water is expensive. Are water companies protecting us or taking our wallets for a ride, or are our municipal water works taking our health for granted?
A four-year scientific study recently made public by the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) had disturbing findings. It proved that bottled water sold in the United States is not always filtered and not necessarily cleaner or safer than most tap water. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72MCumz5lq4 So, why don’t we save our money and drink tap water?
An investigation by the Associated Press (AP) revealed a vast array of pharmaceuticals in municipal drinking water that included antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones. These drugs were found in the water supplies of at least 41 million Americans and in 24 major metropolitan areas - from Southern California to Northern New Jersey.
If tap water contains traces of prescription drugs and bottled water is no safer or cleaner than tap water, what choices are left to us. The answer may be in-house water purification systems.
Water purifications systems are as individual and numerous as the people who buy them. While battling breast cancer, I had water purification systems installed that purified all the water in my homes. If I didn’t want to drink it, I didn’t want to bathe in it either. My system of choice was RO- Reverse Osmosis—a professional filtration system with a 4 to 5 stage water purifier system with filter activated carbon pre-filters plus an ultraviolet light. Each stage removes certain types of contaminants, and all stages combined protected me from just about every contaminant.
Below are lists and links to water purification systems that are for home and commercial use.
• Culligan/Matrix - http://www.culliganmatrixsolutions.com/about_us/
High volume commercial and industrial multi stage water filter system
• RO- Reverse Osmosis- The AP(Associated Press) has mentioned reverse osmosis as a water filtration solution that removes virtually all pharmaceutical contaminants. The following RO systems have between 2 and 6 stages. https://www.google.com/#q=RO+water+filtration+systems&hl=en&prmd=imvns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=lkIaT8DxJKiYiAKqhpyYCA&sqi=2&ved=0CJUBEK0E&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=c7ecc4ec716f4a33&biw=1259&bih=619
IONIZED & FILTERED WATER
Another step to water purification is known as ionized water www.ionlifeionizer.com
Water filtered through these systems is both pH (potential Hydrogen) neutral and ORP (Oxidation Reduction Potential) positive. PH is the acid/alkaline balance. Water displaying pH numbers between 1-6 are acidic, 7 on the pH scale is neutral, while the numbers 8-or higher are alkaline. ORP refers to weather the water is an anti-oxidant displaying negative numbers or an oxidant displaying positive numbers on the ORP Scale. Below are two videos on Ionized water and systems.
• Jupiter Science Melody http://healthiswealthmaui.com/alkaline-water- melody.htm
• Kegen- http://www.costpluswater.com/catalog/articles.php?tPath=25
This video is of a comparative lab test on Ionized Purification systems http://youtu.be/UMZJxr2B-7M
You can install and maintain most filters yourself. A good water filter or complete filtration system may be the only solution to clean water for health and well-being.
Sources:
Saladin A&P
Googlehttps://www.google.com/#q=RO+water+filtration+systems&hl=en&prmd=imvns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=lkIaT8DxJKiYiAKqhpyYCA&sqi=2&ved=0CJUBEK0E&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=c7ecc4ec716f4a33&biw=1259&bih=619
http://www.watercenter.com/
http://www.watercenter.com/#Water Testing
Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos penned SURVIVING CANCERLAND, is a phone counselor for the R.A. BLOCH Cancer Foundation,& Cancer Q&A columnist for Cape Women On Line Magazine, You can follower her @ website www.survivingcancerland.com, @ http://twitter.com/PsychicHealing, @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/SURVIVING-CANCERLAND-The-Psychic-Aspects-of-Healing/142803307934?ref=m
Friday, January 20, 2012
Going Green: A Key to Health
(Written for Ladies Going Green Online Magazine)
“An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure.” This famous quote by Benjamin Franklin is the answer for just about anything. But, what is the key to prevention? A healthy body dispels disease.
We are spirit inhabiting body. How we feed our spirit is half the prevention. What we feed our body is the other half.
Most Supermarket foods have been altered. Prepared foods contain refined sugar, salt and fat. Anemic farm-raised seafood, meats full of growth hormones and antibiotics, and genetically altered grains have become the norm. We don’t need to be part of that norm.
It’s time to take a stand for health by ignoring altered and favor organic. When you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything, like the excuse, “organic costs more than conventional.” Illness is very expensive.
Going organic does not mean going broke. Some Supermarkets realized they were losing customers to Health Markets and began stocking certified organic produce, wild fish and antibiotic and hormone free meats.
Unfortunately, America the Beautiful has become Obese USA. Here is another key to prevention—Less is more.
Less food is healthier. “But I don’t want to be hungry all the time!” a friend said. The key is—a nutritionally balanced diet. Altered foods have been programmed to trick the body into eating more because it is nutritionally unsatisfied. A vicious eating circle ensues that financially benefits the mainstream food industry.
Here is another key that appeals to self-image, and can be used on teenagers eating a Big-Mac, “No matter how good that fattening-food tastes, it will never be as good as skinny-healthy feels.”
Here are some things I did to become healthy during my treatments:
• Juiced daily with organic fruits and vegetables
• Limited dairy intake and only consumed organic including eggs, cheese & milk
• Ate raw foods whenever possible.
What I used on my body during treatment was as important as what I put into it. Most antiperspirants contain aluminum. Some test results claim aluminum in antiperspirants is not a health risk while others disagree. I’d rather be safe than sorry. I chose aluminum-free and never regretted it. The products I’ve used and listed are available in most Health Stores. I am including contact information for anyone house-bound.
• Dr. Browns (Dr. Bronner) Magic vegan soaps www.drbronner.com
• Tate’s Natural Products- www.ourtatefamily.com (ph#) 404-561-5357
1. Natural Miracle Toothpaste
2. Natural Miracle Cream- great for removing make-up
3. Natural Conditioner Spray for dry hair & skin.
Tom’s of Maine- www.tomsofmaine.com
• gluten & alcohol free toothpaste & mouthwash
Aluminum Free Deoderants:
1. Avalon Organics- www.avalonorganics.com
2. Jason- aluminum & paraben free 1-877-Jason-01
3. Aubrey organics Inc- www.aubreyorganicsinc–comes in spray
Ladies, we have a responsibility not only to ourselves, but to those for whom we care and love. We are the universal care-givers. What we do in life will teach others about complete health— body and spirit. What they learn from us will serve them well into the future. Lead by example. That is the master key to a green healthy life for generations.
Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos penned SURVIVING CANCERLAND, is a phone counselor for the R.A. BLOCH Cancer Foundation,& Cancer Q&A columnist for Cape Women On Line Magazine, You can follower her @ website www.survivingcancerland.com, @ http://twitter.com/PsychicHealing, @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/SURVIVING-CANCERLAND-The-Psychic-Aspects-of-Healing/142803307934?ref=m
“An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure.” This famous quote by Benjamin Franklin is the answer for just about anything. But, what is the key to prevention? A healthy body dispels disease.
We are spirit inhabiting body. How we feed our spirit is half the prevention. What we feed our body is the other half.
Most Supermarket foods have been altered. Prepared foods contain refined sugar, salt and fat. Anemic farm-raised seafood, meats full of growth hormones and antibiotics, and genetically altered grains have become the norm. We don’t need to be part of that norm.
It’s time to take a stand for health by ignoring altered and favor organic. When you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything, like the excuse, “organic costs more than conventional.” Illness is very expensive.
Going organic does not mean going broke. Some Supermarkets realized they were losing customers to Health Markets and began stocking certified organic produce, wild fish and antibiotic and hormone free meats.
Unfortunately, America the Beautiful has become Obese USA. Here is another key to prevention—Less is more.
Less food is healthier. “But I don’t want to be hungry all the time!” a friend said. The key is—a nutritionally balanced diet. Altered foods have been programmed to trick the body into eating more because it is nutritionally unsatisfied. A vicious eating circle ensues that financially benefits the mainstream food industry.
Here is another key that appeals to self-image, and can be used on teenagers eating a Big-Mac, “No matter how good that fattening-food tastes, it will never be as good as skinny-healthy feels.”
Here are some things I did to become healthy during my treatments:
• Juiced daily with organic fruits and vegetables
• Limited dairy intake and only consumed organic including eggs, cheese & milk
• Ate raw foods whenever possible.
What I used on my body during treatment was as important as what I put into it. Most antiperspirants contain aluminum. Some test results claim aluminum in antiperspirants is not a health risk while others disagree. I’d rather be safe than sorry. I chose aluminum-free and never regretted it. The products I’ve used and listed are available in most Health Stores. I am including contact information for anyone house-bound.
• Dr. Browns (Dr. Bronner) Magic vegan soaps www.drbronner.com
• Tate’s Natural Products- www.ourtatefamily.com (ph#) 404-561-5357
1. Natural Miracle Toothpaste
2. Natural Miracle Cream- great for removing make-up
3. Natural Conditioner Spray for dry hair & skin.
Tom’s of Maine- www.tomsofmaine.com
• gluten & alcohol free toothpaste & mouthwash
Aluminum Free Deoderants:
1. Avalon Organics- www.avalonorganics.com
2. Jason- aluminum & paraben free 1-877-Jason-01
3. Aubrey organics Inc- www.aubreyorganicsinc–comes in spray
Ladies, we have a responsibility not only to ourselves, but to those for whom we care and love. We are the universal care-givers. What we do in life will teach others about complete health— body and spirit. What they learn from us will serve them well into the future. Lead by example. That is the master key to a green healthy life for generations.
Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos penned SURVIVING CANCERLAND, is a phone counselor for the R.A. BLOCH Cancer Foundation,& Cancer Q&A columnist for Cape Women On Line Magazine, You can follower her @ website www.survivingcancerland.com, @ http://twitter.com/PsychicHealing, @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/SURVIVING-CANCERLAND-The-Psychic-Aspects-of-Healing/142803307934?ref=m
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
DEPRESSION: A Message From Self?
Illness and depression go together like peanut and butter. During my severe bouts of depression during cancer treatment I had a choice. I could take pills to alleviate it, or I could face it and figure out what my body and psych were telling me. I always believed that depression was a symptom, not an illness. Alleviating the symptom would not cure the disorder. I saw my depression as something that would diminish if I faced and cured the cause. This is easier said than done. I considered suicide as a means of escape rather than facing my “ghosts.” However, deciding to see what lessons I could learn from my depression was the first step toward a cure.
Looking back on those difficult times I can now answer questions I avoided such as, “Why was I depressed? How did depression serve me and what did it teach me?” Our mind is incredibly powerful and will create (manifest) situations to serve and save us.
I came to the conclusion that depression and illness was a way of forcing me to slow down and “look within” at memories (old baggage), events (past and present cycles), people (relationships), and life styles (habits) that are not to my benefit. Without depression I may have continued accepting whatever I thought life was throwing at me—settling for less than I needed and/or deserved.
I learned that just because something is thrown at me doesn’t mean I have to catch it, hold, and keep it, including insults or negative relationships. I can choose to duck or move out of the way. And, if I do catch it, I can choose to drop it. Depression made me stop and reassess my life-choices. I came to the conclusion that how people treat me is their Karma, how I respond to them is mine. Not all relationships or situations should be avoided or dropped. And that is when I learned my most important lesson—the quickest way to change someone’s behavior is to change mine first. They must respond differently to the new behavior.
Illness and depression made me take time out for myself, taught me how to respect, honor, and put myself first, and to choose to change or walk away from bad habits, relationships and situations. I drew new boundaries with which I could live.
A friend once asked,“How can I just quit my job or walk away from my relationship if that is what is depressing or killing me.”
I answered her question with another question. “Are you worried about letting down your job and relationship or yourself? Will they survive tomorrow if you are not around? Will you thrive if they are gone? You cannot hold a gift if your hands are full. Put something down.”
Now whenever I feel overwhelmed I take a step back and reassess my life. One of the first things I do is “check my inner baggage,” –the useless stuff I accumulated. I’m often surprised that I am bogged down with baggage that is not mine. Now, I simply drop it. In the past I took on other people’s emotional baggage rather than respecingt their right to carry it. Old habits are hard to break. I’m still working on them.
As a care giver by nature I often thought that if I carried someone else’s troubles for them it would lighten their load. It doesn’t. It just makes mine heavier. That taught me a very difficult lesson—I cannot carry other people’s baggage or walk their path for them. I have to respect their life-lessons… to be learned by them… and my lesson was to respect and love them enough to let them learn those lessons, including mistakes. I will offer them my shoulder but not my back. Let me explain.
I learned that there is a big difference between being supportive and being a mule. A supportive person lends a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on. A mule carries the weight of the world on their back while refusing to focus on their own life—this is avoidance. It only takes another challenge to be the straw that breaks their back and sends them spiraling into depression.
Our mind is a beautiful thing. Experience has taught me that we manifest not only what we want but also what we need. Sometimes we need to slow down and reassess our lives. Depression served me in this capacity. I didn’t enjoy it and would not choose to go through it again. However, by facing depression rather than suppressing it, I learned from it, used it to change my life, and ultimately survived adversity and illness.
Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos is a two time breast cancer survivor, www.survivingcancerland.com, an agented author represented by Scovil, Galen & Ghosh Literary Agency and Steve Allen Media
She has penned the soon to be published book- SURVIVING CANCERLAND.Follow her @http://survivingcancerland.blogspot.com/ http://twitter.com/PsychicHealing http://www.facebook.com/pages/SURVIVING-CANCERLAND-The-Psychic-Aspects-of-Healing/142803307934?ref=m http://www.linkedin.com/myprofile?trk=hb_tab_pro
Looking back on those difficult times I can now answer questions I avoided such as, “Why was I depressed? How did depression serve me and what did it teach me?” Our mind is incredibly powerful and will create (manifest) situations to serve and save us.
I came to the conclusion that depression and illness was a way of forcing me to slow down and “look within” at memories (old baggage), events (past and present cycles), people (relationships), and life styles (habits) that are not to my benefit. Without depression I may have continued accepting whatever I thought life was throwing at me—settling for less than I needed and/or deserved.
I learned that just because something is thrown at me doesn’t mean I have to catch it, hold, and keep it, including insults or negative relationships. I can choose to duck or move out of the way. And, if I do catch it, I can choose to drop it. Depression made me stop and reassess my life-choices. I came to the conclusion that how people treat me is their Karma, how I respond to them is mine. Not all relationships or situations should be avoided or dropped. And that is when I learned my most important lesson—the quickest way to change someone’s behavior is to change mine first. They must respond differently to the new behavior.
Illness and depression made me take time out for myself, taught me how to respect, honor, and put myself first, and to choose to change or walk away from bad habits, relationships and situations. I drew new boundaries with which I could live.
A friend once asked,“How can I just quit my job or walk away from my relationship if that is what is depressing or killing me.”
I answered her question with another question. “Are you worried about letting down your job and relationship or yourself? Will they survive tomorrow if you are not around? Will you thrive if they are gone? You cannot hold a gift if your hands are full. Put something down.”
Now whenever I feel overwhelmed I take a step back and reassess my life. One of the first things I do is “check my inner baggage,” –the useless stuff I accumulated. I’m often surprised that I am bogged down with baggage that is not mine. Now, I simply drop it. In the past I took on other people’s emotional baggage rather than respecingt their right to carry it. Old habits are hard to break. I’m still working on them.
As a care giver by nature I often thought that if I carried someone else’s troubles for them it would lighten their load. It doesn’t. It just makes mine heavier. That taught me a very difficult lesson—I cannot carry other people’s baggage or walk their path for them. I have to respect their life-lessons… to be learned by them… and my lesson was to respect and love them enough to let them learn those lessons, including mistakes. I will offer them my shoulder but not my back. Let me explain.
I learned that there is a big difference between being supportive and being a mule. A supportive person lends a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on. A mule carries the weight of the world on their back while refusing to focus on their own life—this is avoidance. It only takes another challenge to be the straw that breaks their back and sends them spiraling into depression.
Our mind is a beautiful thing. Experience has taught me that we manifest not only what we want but also what we need. Sometimes we need to slow down and reassess our lives. Depression served me in this capacity. I didn’t enjoy it and would not choose to go through it again. However, by facing depression rather than suppressing it, I learned from it, used it to change my life, and ultimately survived adversity and illness.
Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos is a two time breast cancer survivor, www.survivingcancerland.com, an agented author represented by Scovil, Galen & Ghosh Literary Agency and Steve Allen Media
She has penned the soon to be published book- SURVIVING CANCERLAND.Follow her @http://survivingcancerland.blogspot.com/ http://twitter.com/PsychicHealing http://www.facebook.com/pages/SURVIVING-CANCERLAND-The-Psychic-Aspects-of-Healing/142803307934?ref=m http://www.linkedin.com/myprofile?trk=hb_tab_pro
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