So I'm very low on Vitamin D. I'm a 19 and as you read below that is seriouly deficient...and since I have been talking vit. D3 and my rheumatoid arthritis has been getting better. I also feel good like I have been in a sunny place. So I just wanted to share this info with you all because I care about you and want you to take care of yourself. Nobody tells you about vit. d. IF you are interested in more of the article I can send you the link.
In fact, your vitamin D level should never be below 32 ng/ml, and any levels below 20 ng/ml are considered serious deficiency states, increasing your risk of as many as 16 different cancers and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, just to name a few.
There is one other thing you need to be aware of if you choose to use an oral vitamin D supplement and that is that there are basically two types – one is natural and one is synthetic.
The natural one is D3 (cholecalciferol), which is the same vitamin D your body makes when exposed to sunshine
The synthetic one is vitamin D2, which is sometimes called ergocalciferol
Once either form of the vitamin is in your body, it must be converted to a more active form. Vitamin D3 is converted 500 percent faster than vitamin D2, and is clearly a better alternative.
Vitamin D2 also has a shorter shelf life, and its metabolites bind with protein poorly, making it less effective. Studies have even concluded that vitamin D2 should no longer be regarded as a nutrient appropriate for supplementation or fortification of foods (although it continues to be used). So if you choose to use vitamin D supplements make sure it is in the form of vitamin D3.
Please be aware that nearly all the prescription-based supplements contain synthetic vitamin D2, so if you receive a prescription for vitamin D from your doctor, you’re most likely receiving the inferior vitamin D2.
When it comes to the benefits of optimizing your vitamin D levels, the evidence is simply overwhelming. Research shows you can drastically reduce your risk of cancer and countless other chronic diseases by getting safe sun exposure, using a safe tanning bed, or taking a high-quality supplement.
Yet, a great deal of people around the world have heard nothing of this great “discovery.” It’s even likely that your doctor is among them, which is why it’s so important to educate yourself.
As a result of flawed assumptions about sun exposure, and the subsequent recommendations, a vast majority of people are deficient in vitamin D. It’s thought that over 95 percent of U.S. senior citizens may be deficient, along with 85 percent of the American public.
Clearly, the word needs to get out but the mainstream media is slow to react. Plus, there’s no money to be made on selling vitamin D (it’s one of the most inexpensive supplements around) and sun exposure is free! So don’t count on any major corporations or drug companies to help get the message out (rather, count on them to try and suppress this lifesaving information).
The longer this information goes largely unnoticed, the more people who will die unnecessarily from potentially preventable cancers and other diseases.
Getting the correct test is the first step in this process, as there are TWO vitamin D tests currently being offered: 1,25(OH)D, and 25(OH)D.
The correct test your doctor needs to order is 25(OH)D, also called 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which is the better marker of overall D status. This is the marker that is most strongly associated with overall health.
I love these nuggets but jut don't cook them as long as they say I have burnt many you have to pay attention to them to figure out how long you really need to cook them. I now do about 10 minutes then flip and sometime that is too long. The Rice Dream are sooo good I eat them all the time.
My sunday night dinner Gardein "chicken" with pine nut and basil breading. I washed off the other seasoning and breaded the chicken and pan seared it. Yummy!
Hello, it's the Ides of March, the day back in 44 BC when Julius Caesar's friends gathered on the steps of the Senate and stabbed him in the back. Fast-forward a few millenia, and when it comes to kindness, politicians still aren't the first folks we turn to.
Despite Bush Senior's push for a kinder, gentler nation, that sort of stuff can't be legislated. It tends to come not from above, but from below, from grass roots, from we, the people, from the heart. This Saturday, it can come from you. Saturday, March 20 marks the 25th annual Great American Meatout, one day devoted to the push for a diet of plant-based bounty and kindness. All you have to do to be part of it is to enjoy a day without meat.
Launched by FARM (Farm Animal Rights Movement) Meatout began as a small but earnest effort. Observed all around the globe, it had trouble gaining traction here, where America's meat-mad masses viewed vegetarians and vegans creatures from another planet. Well, we walk the earth, and you might notice, do so with a lighter step both in terms of weight and carbon.
Over time, the Great American Meatout has, like the best grass roots initiatives, taken hold. It's now the world's largest food/lifestyle education campaign thanks to high-profile celebs going vegan like newbie Ellen deGeneres and plant-based pinup Alicia Silverstone.
The reasons for kissing off carne are myriad -- personal health, environmental sustainability, but FARM started with kindness and Ms. Silverstone's bestseller The Kind Diet and her vegan websiteThe Kind Life take us right back there.
I used to think the kindness thing referred to the environmental and karmic good we could do by not eating or exploiting animals. Over the years, I've evolved. I still love animals, which why I don't eat them. But I've concluded a vegan diet is not only kind to cows, it's one of the kindest things we can do for ourselves, as well.
The Kind Diet tells how a vegan diet can make you gorgeous and strong and saner. I'm in favor of all three. Ms. Silverstone offers insights for everyone and food plans to suit hardcore, veteran vegans as well as those just entering this brave new world. Though very fab and of the moment, The Kind Dietechoes the timeless Vedic poem the Mahabharata, which says, "Those who desire to possess good memory, beauty, long life with perfect health, and physical, moral and spiritual strength, should abstain from animal food."
Stoked by fresh, local produce, wholesome whole grains, nutrient-filled legumes, nuts and seeds, we immediately lower our risk of America's top three killers -- cancer, heart disease and diabetes. And the food is fabulous because plant-based dishes have evolved apace with the Great American Meatout. Frankly, a quarter of a century ago, what America knew of vegetarian food was sprouts or bland, leaden grain and bean casseroles. Eighties efforts like Mollie Katzen's Enchanted Broccoli Forest helped lead us out of the darkness (and heaviness) and gave produce the luscious treatment it deserves. Now vegan bakeries pop up on every city corner and stylish plant-based cookbooks like Ms. Silverstone's, meatless websites like Meatless Monday and blogs like ahem, this one prove meatless isn't wingnut, it's both green and hot.
A meatless diet does hot things for the spirit, too. Get rid of eating animal protein and you get rid of inhumane practices affecting livestock and labor. If you believe, as French gastronome Brillat-Savarin did, that we are what we eat, forking up a plate of cruelty becomes who you are. Going meatless is like a karmic Mastercleanse. There's enough anger, violence, impatience, road rage and such in the world as it is without adding to it.
Perhaps if our Roman forebears had their own Meatout, they'd have worked things out with Caesar, not whacked him -- just a theory. Happily, America has its own Meatout, stronger and more sophisticated than ever. It's never been easier to be meatless and kindness never goes out of style.
My only other problem is clothes...Scotland will be high 60's to 70 degree's and it is there rainy month. Also I will be in the country part of the time. 
This is France is anyone really surprised they are having affairs? isn't that what the French do?
Rumours that both French leader Nicolas Sarkozy and his singer wife Carla Bruni are having affairs have sparked a frenzy in the international media.
The presidential pair’s two-year-old marriage after a whirlwind romance had already triggered intense speculation on the microblogging site Twitter. Now the gossip is gaining ground.
It is claimed French singer Benjamin Biolay could be the new love of the former supermodel turned first lady of France.
As for Sarkozy himself, the story goes that he has sought solace in the arms of a karate champ who is also his junior minister for the environment.
But the president would never stray, his wife told British TV before the rumours surfaced, though she admitted not knowing whether their marriage would last.
We are all looking for well-being and happiness in life. So the purpose of friendship is to support and be supported in our search for well-being and happiness. Breaking unhealthy agreements challenges our tendency to withdraw into habitual ways of being that sabotage this intention. At the same time, breaking unhealthy agreements awakens our longing to grow and experience a sense of wonderment about ourselves and the world. There are many ways of being in relationship and this is an opportunity to learn something new.
Of course, there is always a chance our friend may not be interested in working on the relationship with you. That is their choice. But this doesn’t mean we can’t remain faithful to our friend; it doesn’t mean that we have to give up our care for them or our wish for their well-being. There is no need to abandon them. In fact, as citizens of the human race, isn’t it our responsibility to never abandon anyone?
If we live with clarity and integrity, how could it conflict with the well-being of others? Our relationship to others has everything to do with the relationship we have with ourselves, as well as the clarity of our vision. In a larger sense, cultivating love and care for all living beings is the only way to live with integrity and purpose.
Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel is the author of the upcoming book, “The Power of an Open Question” (Shambhala Publications).
The more painful termination of friendships has to do with more complex psychological and emotional issues and are often fraught with anxiety and great distress. Friendships that last a lifetime are those in which the balance between give and take, honesty and support, and a genuine desire for our friend’s well-being are paramount. Unfortunately, as in all human relations, this balance can sometimes shift and no longer benefit one or the other in the relationship. For example, a friendship can go along smoothly until one half of the pair comes into some circumstance where social or financial status shifts. How two friends deal with the change of fortune for one or the other is a delicate mission. Here jealousy, envy and insecurities may arise creating tension where none existed before. As we go through life, we realize that some friends are always there when things go wrong for us but cannot stand it when our luck changes for the better. Likewise, some friendships cannot tolerate the loss of status, position or standing of the friend. Sadly, sometimes friendships are harmed when others in the friend’s life such as spouse, other friends etc., create tension. A more deeply held psychological construct is that of who we pick in the first place to be our friends. Until we become psychologically aware and more evolved, we may pick the wrong people to befriend as a way of working out unresolved interpersonal issues from our pasts. As we become more emotionally healthy, those friendships will no longer be tolerable. For example, when one has low self-esteem, they may pick critical friends as a way of reinforcing their negative self-view. However, if one grows more confident, this dynamic may no longer be acceptable.
In essence, our friends are the life-affirming fountain from which we drink. Good friends fill us up with warmth, honesty and a sense of well-being. If you feel drained, empty, belittled and insulted by a friend you should acknowledge that this is diminishing your life experience and not enhancing it. In this case, I would move away from this person, honor whatever good you did get from them in the past, and move toward those friends in life that only want to help light your way! Thank you.
Dr. Karen Binder-Brynes is a leading psychologist with a private practice in New York City for the past 15 years. See her website,DrKarennyc.com, for more information.
This is my new shirt! I thought it was fun. The last word snuggling at first I thought it said "smuggling" as in drugs over the border. Then I realized it was snuggling, but you have to admit it kind of looks like smuggling. 
