A blood clot causes concern because the most common type of both stroke and heart attack is ischemic disease and that’s caused by a blood clot.  Over 300,000 people in North America die each year from stroke. Another 700,000 die each year from heart attack.  Damage occurs when the blood clot reduces – and then totally blocks – circulation in an artery. The tissue nourished by that artery begins to die almost immediately.

The nature of blood clots
A blood clot causes a seal for a leak of the blood vessel is injured so many people consider Blood clots a miracle when they occur in the right place at the right time. What happens is when a blood vessel is injured it sends out chemical distress signals that cause platelets to seal the leak. Platelets are small, white cells that are normally very slippery. They become sticky when the lining of the blood vessel (the endothelium) is damaged.

1. The endothelium sends chemical messages to the platelets.
2. The platelets send chemical messages to attract fibrin proteins.
3. Fibrin proteins are like string that becomes very sticky and ties the groups of platelets together. This is an immature or “white” blood clot.

If the leak is not sealed by this “white” clot, larger red blood cells are tied to the platelets by fibrin to form a “red” clot.

Blood clots in the wrong place – at the wrong time
A Blood clot causes problems when these clots happen in the wrong place at the wrong time. For example, one probable cause of migraine headaches is inappropriate communication between blood vessels and platelets. If a single blood vessel cramps or spasms it can signal platelets to become so sticky that they restrict circulation in the rest of the brain. Ischemic strokes and heart attacks are often caused by mature red clots breaking free of the injured area and blocking arteries in the heart or brain.

Interestingly, a blood clot causes blockages that can occur in any area of the body. For instance, a person can have a “stroke” that injures the lungs or kidneys. Deep vein thrombosis in the legs is the exact same kind of vascular disease that causes stroke or heart attack.

The key to preventing damage is to make sure that the clots form only when and where they are supposed to. This is only possible with accurate communication between the endothelium in the blood vessels and the clotting mechanisms in the red blood cells, platelets and fibrin. Simple nutrients can have profound effects on improving this communication – and I make several suggestions later in this report.

Working smarter, not harder
A blood causes a person to have a stroke when the blood vessels, platelets and fibrin are getting the message to clot in the wrong place at the wrong time and blood thinners force platelets and fibrin to ignore clotting signals from the endothelium.  When a person is having a stroke these drugs are life-saving because  One new class of drugs triggers the release of nitric oxide to open the blood vessels. Nitric oxide also helps the blood vessels, platelets and fibrin proteins communicate clearly. To prevent blood vessel miscommunication in the first place, high nitric oxide levels are needed.

Nitric oxide is made from nitrogen; nitrogen comes from fruits and vegetables. Eating up to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day will make your clotting system very smart! Plant-based foods have been proven to improve your health – including the health of your circulatory system.

Smart nutrients

Adaptogen 10 Plus®
Dr. Nathan Bryan, cardiologist and specialist in nitric oxide communication, recommends Adaptogen 10 Plus to help increase nitric oxide. Adaptogen 10 Plus also helps protect against stress. Stress alone – without any help from cholesterol – causes blood vessel spasms which may result in blood clots. So, a good first step in improving the health of your circulatory system is to eat your fruits and vegetables every day and take whole-food supplements like Adaptogen 10 Plus.

OmegaPrime®
Essential fatty acids such as those in OmegaPrime can help keep the platelets from getting sticky at the wrong time. Dr. Dwight Lundell, cardiologist and specialist in bypass surgery, recommends the Omega-3 EFA in OmegaPrime as a prime tool to help protect against inappropriate clotting. We need 1–4 grams of Omega-3 every day (2–6 OmegaPrime soft gels).

HCY Guard®
Dr. Kilmer McCully, cardiologist and specialist in vascular health, recommends the protective nutrients found in HCY Guard to help your body reduce homocysteine (HCY). HCY is one culprit in forming clots at the wrong place and time. Taking a single HCY Guard sublingual lozenge daily can help your body reduce homocysteine up to 35% – in as little as 42 days!

Other nutrients such as Vitamin E, turmeric and ginger, and Vitamin C all provide information for your blood clotting system to work smarter. Smart nutrients are the key to making good decisions about where and when to activate this miraculous system!

Nopalea also helps to reduce blood clots.  Nopalea is TriVita’s breakthrough wellness drink.  Nopalea is based on the Nopal fruit from the Sonoran Desert, rich in betalains.  Betalains are natural antioxidants—and they’re only found in a few of the world’s plants, and the Nopal fruit isn’t just included in this small group of special plants, it actually leads the group by containing one of the highest amounts of betalains in all of nature.

When you drink Nopalea, you take these betalains into your system, where they begin to restore your vitality on a cellular level. By helping the body reduce the toxins surrounding your cells and enabling essential nutrients to reach each cell, the betalains in Nopalea can reduce the inflammation in your body that leads to disease.  Scientific research shows that betalains help to reduce the risk of blood clots.  Betalains protect the thin lining of your blood vessels; this helps reduce the inflammation that makes your blood sticky and leads to clots.

A blood clot causes concerns but when you eat right and take control of your health, then the blood clot is there at the right time in the right place where it’s needed.

Take Control of Your Health

* Eat the appropriate servings of fruits and vegetables daily:
o 5 servings for children
o 7 servings for women
o 9 servings for men
* Exercise at least 30 minutes most days.
* Take Healthy Aging Pack smart nutrients
o With HCY Guard if homocysteine is an issue.
o Add Adaptogen 10 Plus if stress is an issue.
* Drink Nopalea and Thrive!

* Remember, call 9-1-1 if you suspect you are having a stroke!

If you’re interested in high quality nutritional supplements like the ones mentioned on my blog, you can to go to: www.havingplenty.com.

And if you’re interested in being involved in a Wellness Opportunity, take a look at www.trivitacactus.info.

Wishing you much health and wellness

Kathy

Katherine Smith
TriVita Independent Affiliate Member 13158176

As we age we often begin to lose the fine motor control associated with youth. At first, this may be an imperceptible tremor that only occurs when we are trying to keep our hands very still. These “shakes” may eventually keep us from doing important things: delicate artwork, tying a fly, needlepoint or even simply signing our name.

Loss of fine motor control usually begins with inflammation in the brain. Inflammation usually begins with free radical activity: too many toxins, too much stress, not enough anti-inflammatory nutrients.

Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease is a chronic disorder typically affecting people over age 55. The condition is caused by the death of nerve cells in certain parts of the brain, leading to characteristic problems with movement. These include a tremor in the hands, a shuffling gait, decreased facial expressiveness and trouble talking. Thinking ability may become impaired in later stages of the disease, and depression is common.

Many researchers believe that free radicals play a role in destroying nerve cells that supply dopamine (a neurotransmitter) in Parkinson’s disease. Most treatments for Parkinson’s disease work by artificially increasing the brain’s dopamine levels. Many people take levodopa with carbidopa, a drug that increases the amount of levodopa available to make dopamine.

Essential tremors

There is another kind of nervous disorder called essential tremors. Essential tremors are not caused by disease, such as Parkinson’s disease. Rather, they arise without any other signs or symptoms. Essential tremors do not progress into anything more severe; they are not related to any other condition. They exist as a fundamental defect in the part of the brain that controls motion.

Essential tremors are often called “family tremors” because they occur in higher concentrations among family members. People that are related to each other share many genetic characteristics. That means that they may also share some of the same vulnerabilities. These weaknesses only become apparent under specific stresses. So, two people with identical genetics – identical twins – may not have the same tendency toward essential tremors unless they experience the same stresses.

Tremor triggers

As mentioned, inflammation is the last thing that happens to your brain before you experience a tremor – whether it is from Parkinson’s disease or essential tremors. Anything that causes inflammation is a tremor trigger. What are the common triggers?

• Deficiency – Oxygen deficiency is very common, especially as we sleep. Practice deep breathing for 20 minutes before sleeping and take brain-specific antioxidants such as CoQ-10, Vitamin E and Optima4 at bedtime.

• Toxins – Household chemicals, refined sugar and allergens commonly trigger loss of fine motor control. Golfers and gardeners are often exposed to high levels of toxins. It seems that everyone has allergies – and sugar consumption is at an all-time high. Isolating yourself as much as possible from chemicals and allergens is crucial for brain health.

• Stress – When I ask an audience, “Do you feel stressed out?” almost everyone responds affirmatively! Stress burns out the coordination areas in your brain. Adaptogens put the fire out by helping us build a defense against stress.

• Trauma – Head injuries are common and becoming even more common. The delicate tissues of the brain are traumatized in auto accidents, injuries at work or around the home, or sports-related injuries. Trauma creates subtle inflammation that may smolder for years.

Conclusion

The cause of Parkinson’s and essential tremors is certainly different, yet the trigger is the same: Inflammation. The best hope for “cure” lies in prevention. Applying the 10 Essentials gives you protection from a rapid decline in health. And, the suggestions are easy to follow. Supplement your diet with nutrients and brain-specific antioxidants. Isolate yourself from toxins and put out the fire of chronic inflammation. Start today. The brain you save may be your own!

If you want high quality products, take a look at TriVita. Go to www.havingplenty.com, and find out about Nopalea that can help in reducing inflammation.  if you’re interested in finding out more about Sonoran Bloom Nopalea, call me on 718-407-0035.

If you’re interested in being involved in a Wellness Opportunity, take a look at www.roadmaptowishes.com.

Wishing you much health and wellness

Kathy

Katherine Smith
TriVita Independent Affiliate Member 13158176

You’ve heard that the best defense is a good offense. This is especially true when it comes to your immune system. By practicing healthy lifestyle habits and reducing our exposure to infection (offense), we can better help protect against illness (defense).

What determines if you get sick or not?
Louis Pasteur and Antoine Bechamp – physicians 150 years ago – were keenly aware of the same things you and I experience every year: during the cold and flu season, some people get sick and some people don’t. Pasteur spent his life looking for what makes sick people sick. Bechamp spent his career looking for what keeps healthy people healthy – and how we can be like them! They settled their argument with the discovery that illness visits people with poor habits much more frequently than those who care for their health.

It turns out that microbes prefer to wreak their havoc on people with compromised immune systems. Simple things can compromise our immune system, including:

• An imbalanced diet
• Alcohol and caffeine consumption
• An argument with someone you love

Just as Pasteur and Bechamp discovered more than a century ago, our health revolves around a healthy lifestyle more than the virulence of a microbe.

Help protect against illness
The phrase that describes our vulnerability or resistance to disease is “biological terrain.” The terrain or landscape of our health is made up of our genetics, our environment and, most importantly, our lifestyle. Vigorous application of the 10 Essentials yields the healthiest, most disease-resistant terrain. Skipping even one of these principles will change your terrain and leave you vulnerable to infection.

• A base of healthy nutrients
  Establishing a base of healthy nutrients can provide us with a very resilient terrain. The more dense the base is, the more disease-resistant our terrain will be. Taking a multiple vitamin and mineral supplement every day is an excellent start. Almost all physicians recommend an Omega-3 supplement as well. If your terrain is being remodeled by stress, you may need adaptogens to help you cope while remaining disease-resistant. Indeed, the long-term studies of adaptogens in Russia clearly demonstrated that these plants help you resist infections and speed healing.
• Vitamin C
  Vitamin C is a favorite for protecting against and even treating virus infections. Russell Jaffe, MD, former director of the National Institutes of Health, recommends a loading dose of Vitamin C: one teaspoon of Vitamin C crystals every 15 minutes until you “flush.” By this, he means a complete bowel evacuation. After the flush, he recommends a daily serving of Vitamin C (for one month) that is equivalent to 75% of the amount it took you to flush. This should really improve your terrain!
• Echinacea
  Echinacea is used in a similar way. Significant medical research from Germany suggests that an hourly dose of Echinacea will help reduce symptoms and may help shorten the duration of a virus infection. Taking a gram of Echinacea every hour for three days may even “abort” an infection that has already begun. Continue taking Echinacea three times daily for up to two weeks afterward to protect against a relapse.

Reduce your exposure
Here are some great recommendations for reducing your exposure to infection:

• Wash your hands
  First, the largest contributor to infection is unwashed hands. Washing your hands with soap every few hours will reduce the chance for pathogens to gain access to your system. You should also make sure they are completely dry. Then, use the disposable towel to open the door out of the washroom. Many ugly microbes lurk on door handles – usually from people who have not properly washed and dried their hands.
• Clean surfaces
  Next, disinfect surfaces that are shared by many people. For instance, public telephones bring you within kissing distance of hundreds or even thousands of people. Who knows what their hygiene habits were? In a typical day we may be exposed to germs from as many as 150 countries or more!
• Reduce stress
  Reduce stress. Stress decreases the effectiveness of your immune system. Your immune system may begin to overreact or not react in time to stop an infection when you are under stress. The source of the stress really does not matter. For instance, job stress and an injury may seem like entirely different stresses to your mind but they are treated exactly the same way by your body.

Remember, building up your terrain and reducing your exposure are keys to a great offense… which will help improve your defense!

Learn More…

• The proper way to wash your hands
  A quick rinse isn’t enough to avoid infection – find out the best technique for washing

And learn more about Nopalea – a superfruit juice with rare antioxidants that will boost your immune system.

If you want high quality products, take a look at TriVita. Go to www.havingplenty.com, and if you’re interested in finding out more about Sonoran Bloom, call me on 718-407-0035.

If you’re interested in being involved in a Wellness Opportunity, take a look at www.besthomebasedbusinessforyou.com.

Wishing you much health and wellness

Kathy

Katherine Smith
TriVita Independent Affiliate Member 13158176

When Oprah talks, everyone listens. The latest buzz was revealed on her show when Dr. Oz spoke about C-Reactive Protein. What is C-Reactive Protein and what does a C-Reactive Protein Level mean?

C-Reactive Protein is a protein made by liver and by fat. Dr. Oz said that the C-Reactive Protein level measurement can tell doctors how much inflammation is in your body. If you have a high amount of C-Reactive Protein in your blood, you have a predisposition for problems.

The New England Journal of Medicine published several studies in the year 2000 showing that the blood indicators of inflammation are strong predictive factors for determining who will suffer a heart attack (Lindahl et al. 2000; Packard et al. 2000; Rader 2000).

“There’s enough evidence to support that unhealthy characteristics are associated with increased inflammatory markers to warrant targeted approaches to reduce inflammation,” says Cynthia Thomson, PhD, RD, an assistant professor in the University of Arizona’s department of nutritional sciences. Thomson says a few years ago, scientists didn’t know whether increased inflammation was linked to the risk of chronic diseases, but several studies have shown how diseases such as diabetes and obesity are associated with increased inflammatory markers. “In diabetes and cancer, there are more and more studies suggesting that modulation of inflammatory end points may reduce disease risk,” Thomson says.

The emerging science on how diet contributes to inflammation, thus influencing chronic disease, is big news and many people are seeking natural treatments, especially because of the side effects that accompany pharmaceuticals.

By focusing on wellness and treating inflammation, people can reduce their inflammation and be proactive about focusing on prevention instead of dealing with the results of the outcome of having inflammation.

Excitement is growing about a new product line called Sonoran Bloom that is being introduced by TriVita that has been clinically proven to reduce inflammation and bring your C-Reactive protein to normal levels as well as having multiple health benefits. I am so excited about this product line becoming available that will help so many people, and for those who are also seeking to make additional money, you can share and earn with the new Share and Earn component to the enhanced business model.

If you want high quality products, take a look at TriVita. Go to www.havingplenty.com, and if you’re interested in finding out more about Sonoran Bloom, call me on 718-407-0035.

If you’re interested in being involved in a Wellness Opportunity, take a look at www.besthomebasedbusinessforyou.com.

Wishing you much health and wellness

Kathy

Katherine Smith
TriVita Independent Business Affiliate 13158176

Sonoran Bloom is the new product that TriVita is introducing this year and I am so excited. Sonoran Bloom has multiple health benefits so many people will benefit from it and because I am a business affiliate with TriVita, my business will also profit as I share it with so many people. It’s a win/win. The Sonoran Bloom™ product line is scheduled to launch April 1st, 2009 and I can’t wait.

What is Sonoran Bloom? Will it benefit you? “The new Sonoran Bloom™ product line – which includes a proprietary Opuntia liquid concentrate and Streptocantha gel – have significant health applications and benefits,” said TriVita Chief Science Officer, Brazos Minshew.

“These products offer our Members and Affiliates true wellness benefits by helping with detoxification and reducing inflammation. The source plants for the Sonoran Bloom™ products are considered healing food plants and were used by ancient people in the Sonora desert.

I was curious and did some research and actually found in Wikipedia information on Opuntia and how beneficial it is and one of my colleagues shared with me their father flies in and out of Arizona and knew about Indians who had used the cactus which has some key ingredients in our product who use it for multiple health benefits.

More and more people are focused on natural ways of achieving better health and what’s great about TriVita is the research they do to make sure we have the best products like the new one launching, Sonoran Bloom.

TriVita expects Sonoran Bloom to be a billion dollar product, and Michael Ellison wants to share his message of health and wellness with a 30 city tour to share Sonoran Bloom. If you’re interested in finding out more about Sonoran Bloom, please email me at kathy (at) timeismoneynow (dot) com or call me on 718-407-0035.

If you want high quality products, take a look at TriVita. Go to www.havingplenty.com.

And if you’re interested in being involved in a Wellness Opportunity, take a look at www.besthomebasedbusinessforyou.com.

Wishing you much health and wellness

Kathy

Katherine Smith
TriVita Independent Business Affiliate 13158176