Our practical thoughts on health and other things that will make your life better.
Please note: Caring Sunshine is unique in that we provide expert health help to our customers. If you have specific questions about your situation, we invite you to book a free consultation with Dr. Shannyn Fowl.
We send out an email every Monday that gives you practical tips about health, relationships, finances, and much more.
Most guacamole is bland and tasteless. For reasons we cannot begin to understand, that is even true in most restaurants.
It does not have to be that way. It takes just a few extra minutes to make guacamole that is incredibly tasty while staying just as healthy.
Here is the recipe:
2 avocados
1/4 onion diced
1 TB of lemon juice
3 TB of salsa
1 tsp salt
2 tsp chili powder
A handful of chopped cilantro
Mix all these ingredients together.
We all struggle with keeping all the balls in the air, and over time, this tension can affect your emotional health. In this 1-minute video, Greg gives a very easy tip to help restore some calm: create to-do lists. His theory is that spending five minutes to build a list reminds you that there is an end in sight. Also, if you don’t have a list, you can’t cross things off the list, and what is more satisfying in life than that?
I can’t say enough about Silver Shield. I began taking this mighty warrior because I needed help slaying a UTI. I am happy to report the Silver as the victor! What a warrior!
Benefits:Silver Shield with Aqua Sol Technology features pure silver particles suspended in pure water for powerful support. It is manufactured using a patented process with strict quality control to verify potency and purity. The result is fine, bioavailable, particle-sized colloids.
20 ppm of pure silver (100 mcg per serving)
Take one teaspoon, swish and swallow, three times daily. Do not mix with salt or salty-liquids.
I have to say I took more than the one teaspoon. And I took it 4x throughout the day. I’ve always loved silver, but now? I swoon.
See all of the Silver Shield Options HERE
Orange essential oil is harvested by pressing the rinds of the fruit.This oil is so wonderful and versatile. It’s an effective addition to homemade cleaners, thanks to limonene, a compound found in the essential oil that is also a natural ingredient in many commercial cleaning products. In addition, orange essential oil is antibacterial, antifungal and antiseptic.
Here are surprising ways to use Orange Oil
1. Air Refresher: To keep indoor air smelling fresh, mix 8 drops orange essential oil with 2-1⁄2 cups warm water in a spray bottle. Spritz as necessary. Avoid contact with eyes.
2. Mood Lifter: Orange essential oil can enhance your mindset thanks to its energizing scent. Mix a few drops of the essential oil with 1⁄4 cup sweet almond oil in a small, airtight jar. Dab it on your temples to help with headaches or supercharge your spirits on a dreary afternoon.
3. Coconut/Almond Milk Enhancer: Put a delicious zing in your “milk” by adding a few drops of orange oil. This is a delicious and refreshing “pick-me-up” drink
4. Cleaner: Combine 1⁄4 cup white vinegar with 14 drops orange essential oil. Add to a bucket of water and “clean away”!
5. Furniture Pamperer: Moisturize leather furniture with a mixture of 1⁄4 cup flax seed oil, 1⁄2 cup white vinegar and 1 to 2 drops orange essential oil. Place the ingredients in a glass jar with a lid. Cover and shake before using. Apply with a soft, clean cloth. Rub the mixture on one small area at a time and buff until the surface dries.
6. Flea Nixer: Mix 2 cups baking soda with 10 to 15 drops orange essential oil. Sprinkle on carpets, then wait a few minutes or up to an hour before vacuuming. (Make sure pets and children are kept away and can’t ingest the baking soda.)
8. Dead skin Exfoliator: To exfoliate dead skin cells and hydrate your skin, make a body scrub with sea salt or raw sugar. Next, add avocado or apricot seed oil, then five to six drops of sweet orange essential oil. Use weekly for energized, fresh and smooth skin
Click here to get your Orange Oil.
Lavender Essential Oil can be diffused in a room to help you go to sleep at night or used as part of a relaxing bath. Nature’s Sunshine Lavender Essential Oil is Certified Organic. 100% pure organically-grown Lavandula angustifolia flower oil. Certified organic by Ecocert.
Here are a few options to try for a relaxing evening bath. Combine essential oils with fine sea salt in a glass bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon to distribute oils evenly through the salt. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Store in a glass container. Use about 1/3 cup of the mixture for each bath. Add dried lavender for additional color. This recipe makes bath salts for 6 or 7 baths.
Rosemary Lavender Milk Bath
½ Cup powdered buttermilk
½ cup nonfat powdered milk
¾ cup fine sea salt
½ cup Dead Sea salt
25 drops lavender essential oil
12 drops rosemary essential oil
Another natural option for stress relief is AnxiousLess. This supplement includes Zembrin® , L-Theanine, Thiamin, Magnesium, and Zinc. You can learn more about those ingredients on our website.
This fast-acting, non-drowsy formula helps to relieve the nervousness, worry and tension associated with daily living. Featuring Sceletium tortuosum—a time-honored South African herb—and key nutrients that replenish your body’s stress-coping reserves, AnxiousLess targets feelings of anxiousness from multiple pathways. Designed to quickly calm your mind, this proprietary blend of natural ingredients helps boost your mood and reduce fatigue. You simply take one capsule daily as needed to feel less anxious and typically within an hour, you will start to see results. **
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
** Most people who have taken this product reported that it works within an hour, however individual results may vary.
adapted from NS blog by Clint Hunter
Seasonal allergies are no fun! The sneezing, itchy eyes, congestion, and sinus pressure can be so uncomfortable. Maybe you’ve tried over-the-counter solutions, but find yourself wanting to avoid medications. Let’s take a look at some natural solutions that may ease your symptoms.
Understanding how histamines work can help you better understand how natural antihistamines can be an ally during allergy season.
Allergies are an immune response. The substance (maybe dust or pollen) comes into contact with cells in the mucus membranes of your nose, mouth, throat, lungs, stomach, and intestines. Your immune system is doing it’s job by triggering the release of histamines.
Histamine is a protein that causes all of these pesky symptoms mentioned above. Antihistamines block histamine activity, helping to stop the allergic reaction.There are certain foods and plant extracts that can have similar effects on histamine production. Try adding these items into your routine, especially during allergy season.
Quercetin is an antioxidant plant pigment with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. It’s found in common foods including onions, green tea, apples and berries. This antioxidant lessens the respiratory side effects of allergies by reducing inflammatory response in the airways. You can purchase quercetin as a supplement as well as adding more quercetin-rich foods to your diet. An apple a day, anyone? 🙂
Bromelain is an enzyme most commonly found in fresh pineapples. Did you need an excuse to eat more? Now, you have it. Bromelain helps with digestion as well as immune response. You may also take a bromelain supplement (between 400-500 mg three times daily) to help relieve respiratory and inflammation issues during allergy season.
Vitamin C is an easy-to-find natural antihistamine. It is available in many fruits and vegetables and can also be taken in supplement form. Vitamin C is a safe addition to your regimen for treating a stuffy nose.
ALJ® provides protection for the respiratory system against potentially harmful airborne particles. The formula nourishes the body’s cleansing mechanisms and immune system to help them be able to fight any challenges from these particles. ALJ promotes proper lung function and assists the body through seasonal changes. It contains boneset aerial parts, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, horseradish root extract, and mullein leaves extract. It’s quite the herbal powerhouse.
One of the necessary mindsets needed in health challenges is tenacity. Don’t give up hope during allergy season. By combining natural remedies with allergen avoidance (if possible), you can make progress and find relief.
Did you know that the “bitterness” on our taste buds sends a chemical reaction throughout our bodies and has numerous health benefits? When you sweeten bitter foods, you often destroy the majority of the health benefit of that particular food.
Consider the initial taste shock of bitter foods such as cranberries, cocoa and kale to be positive, rather than negative. Bitter = Better (for your body) 😉
Here are a few of the health benefits of bitter foods.
Bitter foods and herbs (like dandelion) help to stimulate digestive juices and support food digestion. They help stimulate our taste receptors on the tongue, which subsequently stimulates enzyme production and bile flow. The better your food is digested, the more nutrients you will absorb from your food.
Who doesn’t need a little sweet tooth support? Guess what? The more bitter greens we eat, the more bitter greens we want. It’s true. In Ayurvedic tradition, bitter foods are thought to reduce food cravings and aid in weight loss. In TCM, bitter foods are prized for ‘removing heat’ in the body – could that speak to their very modern ‘anti-inflammatory’ benefits?
Bitter roots and veggies contain fiber to help sweep wastes through the digestive tract. Bitter foods also contain sulfur-based compounds which support the natural detoxification pathways in the liver; helping it to do what it is meant to do – keep your body clean and clear.
This is exciting! Bitter foods and herbs like green tea have been shown to boost metabolism. Drinking green tea is one of the easiest ways to rev up your metabolism and it has been shown to inhibit fat absorption—the movement of glucose into fat cells, [support healthy] glucose levels after eating a meal, prevent insulin spikes which prevents fat storage, and reduce appetite. Go get that green tea brewing, or add this green tea supplement to your regimen.
Recent studies have shown that bitter foods, including dark chocolate, ( I see your smile) can help fight free radicals in the body. How much chocolate is recommended each day? When you are shopping for a dark chocolate bar, let the cocoa content be your guide — it is typically listed prominently on the label, and you want a bar with at least 70 percent cocoa beans. The higher the percentage, the more antioxidant content. 1 oz a day is a healthy serving.
There are a wide variety of bitter foods and herbs. Some of them are best taken as a tea to help your body register the bitter taste to get the digestive juices flowing. Some better foods and herbs include:
*edited and condensed from NS blog
Over the past decade, infant mortality rates are down 15% across all racial groups including Hispanics. Read more here: http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/21/health/us-infant-mortality-report/
Hispanic adults are far more likely to have diabetes than non-Hispanics. In fact, 12.8% of adult Hispanics have diabetes compared to 9.3% for non-Hispanics. However, a recent study shows that peer support and tight communities helps Hispanics fight diabetes.
Learn more here: http://www.ajmc.com/newsroom/peer-support-can-help-hispanic-adults-with-diabetes-study-finds
The Hispanic population suffers from worse oral health than other racial and ethnic segments of the US according to a recent study.
Excerpt:
For example, migrant families have the tendency to think of themselves as “one unit,” and sometimes they do not access available health care programs because they assume that if one member does not qualify to receive health care, neither does the rest of the family. Alternately, from the health care point of view, thinking of the Hispanic family as “one unit” doesn’t always apply to migrant families, as it is common for these families to be mixed and have members who are U.S. citizens, U.S. residents, or have pending legal status. Therefore, different health programs could be available to different family members and providers and outreach programs should take this into account in their approaches.
Read more here: http://hola-arkansas.com/eliminating-oral-health-disparities-in-the-hispanic-population/
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