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Hello {FIRST_NAME}!
Welcome to The Rays of Hope e-newsletter! February is HEART month and our focus will be on caring for our hearts and protecting our hearts from disease through holistic medicine and practices!
The focus of the newsletter is to connect and integrate you with all of the wonderful information, people and events taking place in holistic health and macrobiotic communities around the world. I want you to know why we founded MedMacro and started the Rays of Hope Newsletter. I want MedMacro to be the connecting point of information, people and places for the holistic health and macrobiotic communities around the globe. And, this newsletter, while starting small, hopes to better your life by connecting you to the world of integrated health.
This newsletter, RAYS OF HOPE, will be published monthly. I invite you to send me your stories about your illness and/or recovery, feedback on this newsletter or any general ideas you might have for MedMacro. In addition, I have invited holistic health professionals to express their views and promote their studies.
Please send me your thoughts, inquiries and ideas.
Lastly, check out our blog for frequent updates, news and stories.
Peace, Love and Health,
Marlene
Founder, MedMacro.com
Making the Connection to Holistic Vacations:
The Holistic Holiday at Sea Cruise leaves March 1st for a week long adventure on the high seas: it is called by many A Voyage To Well-Being! It is an opportunity to study and learn from some of the world’s leading alternative health professionals, research scientists, macrobiotic healers, shiatsu practitioners, yoga and Pilates instructors, and vegan and macrobiotic chefs. For more information, visit www.aTasteOfHealth.org. There are workshops and lectures and social activities. I am participating on The Recovery Panel and sharing my book and DVDs with many on the cruise. In upcoming issues of this enewsletter, I will share my experiences and information about this transforming and unique vacation. Please think about signing up early for next year's cruise, March 21st, 2010.
Making the Reading Connection:
This book is a practical guide to the mind-body approach to heart health using stress management, exercise, and proper nutrition. With the program outlined in this book you can lower your cholesterol and blood pressure, lose weight and increase physical fitness and help prevent and manage heart disease. Aggie Casey is the Director of the Cardiac Wellness Program at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine, Mass General Hospital in Boston MA. And Dr. Benson is the Founding President of this Institute and is a pioneer in the field of mind-body research. We will be interviewing Dr. Benson in an upcoming issue of this enewsletter.
Making the Food Connection:
Why Soy?? Soy foods like tofu, tempeh, soy milk, and other products appear to help reduce the risk of heart disease. This may be because of plant estrogens, called isoflavones, found in soy products or may be due to the cholesterol-lowering effect of soy protein. In any case, including a serving or two of soy products daily can enhance a heart healthy vegetarian diet.
Why Fiber? Fiber is found only in plant foods. A vegetarian diet featuring fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads and cereals, and dried beans will be high in fiber. Oats, carrots, fruits, and beans are especially high in one kind of fiber that helps to lower blood cholesterol, thereby preventing heart disease.
Making the Connection to Charitable Foundations:
The Foundation's goal is to help people in need to get the alternative healing they seek. By offering financial assistance to individual practitioners for their clients and scholarship grants to students of the healing arts, the Foundation supports and promotes the holistic, healing arts community. Recently, this Foundation received an award for outstanding efforts, dedication and commitment to the health and wellness community by Healthy Living Magazine. John Hooper Dean, the Foundation's President, stated that they are working hard to connect the general public to the alternative healing community by offering a searchable database of practitioners via their website. Visit www.ourweepingangel.org
Making the Connection to Alternative Medicine:
What is Coenzyme Q10?
About 95% of cellular energy is produced from structures in your cells called mitochondria. Coenzyme Q10 is incorporated into the mitochondria of your cells where it facilitates the transformation of fats and sugars into energy. A large body of scientific evidence shows that CoQ10’s ability to restore mitochondrial function has a profound effect on one’s overall health.
When CoQ10 levels diminish, the ability of cells to sustain even basic metabolic functions is impaired. Heart cells have a high-energy demand, and many clinical studies have investigated the effect of CoQ10 supplements on cardiac function. Efficacy has been shown in studies when CoQ10 was used for cardiovascular problems. Scientists have also found that CoQ10 provides benefits to other organs whose cells require high-level energy metabolism such as the brain and kidneys.
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS?
Sandy Pukel has been intimately involved in the natural foods industry for over three decades and has established an international reputation as a leader in this field. He is a natural foods icon in South Florida where he taught vegetarian cooking in the early 1970s and owned and operated the landmark Oak Feed natural foods store, a Mecca for people interested in health and well being. Together with world macrobiotic leader Michio Kushi, Sandy established a network of learning centers throughout Florida to teach natural foods cooking and holistic health. In 1984 he founded a non-profit educational foundation, A Taste of Health, which has hosted celebrities and internationally known holistic educators at conferences and open air festivals. Visit www.atasteofhealth.org and/or read his book (co-authored with Mark Hanna, Greens and Grains on the Deep Blue Sea Cookbook.