HEALING GOD’S WAY

Addressing the mind-body-spirit connection.
Kiri Christina Hyatt, editor

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1. MINISTRY ARTICLE: THE THREE-LEGGED STOOL OF HEALTH
   By Kiri Christina Hyatt (c)

Health is like a three-legged stool. If one of the legs breaks, the stool tumbles to the ground. The same is true for health. Health is dependent on three factors. If one of those factors breaks down, a person’s health will crumble.

Health is dependent on what we feed our bodies. Unfortunately the United States is one of the fattest countries in the world. We have so much food available, yet much of it very unhealthy. It is sad to say that some stores have larger bakery departments then produce departments. Very little of our grocery stores is devoted to healthy foods. Most isles are filled with processed food.

FOODS TO AVOID

Saturated and Trans fats:

Saturated fats are mostly found in meat (such as beef and pork) and poultry. The saturated fat content of beef is much higher then poultry. This fat is known to age human beings and is just unhealthy. There is no medical benefit to saturated fat. So we should limit it whenever possible.

I am not saying we should all become vegetarians. I personally became ill after several years on a vegetarian diet and have spoken to a number of ex-vegetarians who also became ill. A little bit of animal protein does have benefits. We just need to eat it in moderation.

Trans fats are deadly. Trans fats are produced by artificially inserting hydrogen gas into vegetable fat to produce a fat that lasts much longer. That is why commercial cookies can sit on the shelf so long. It also makes food crisper, like french-fries. Any time you see hydrogenated oil on a label, you know you are eating Trans fat. Trans fat are now linked to heart disease, obesity, and many other serious medical conditions.

My dad is convinced that Trans fats caused the blockage that forced him to have a heart by-pass operation. He has always had normal cholesterol and a healthy blood pressure.

Recently I heard about a study where two groups of monkeys were fed the same diet for six years, including calorie content. The only difference between the two groups is one group got healthy oil and the other group was fed Trans fats. The group given Trans fats developed obesity. The monkeys fed the healthy oil remained at a healthy weight.

Simple Sugars:

In 1966 high fructose corn syrup did not exist. Then scientists figured out how to extract sugar from corn. It did not take long for food manufacturers to start sweetening their foods with high fructose corn syrup.

Today the average person eats 62.6 pounds.*

The problem with high fructose corn syrup is that our bodies are unable to recognize corn syrup as sugar. Instead of filling us up, we just get hungrier. Our bodies do recognize cane or beet sugar. So we eat a lot more high fructose corn syrup, get fatter, and sicker. There is evidence that excessive consumption of corn syrup may lead to diabetes and heart disease. We know it leads to obesity.

At least in the United States, we eat way too much refined sugars. Any word that ends in –ose is sugar. So fructose, glucose, lactose, maltose, and dextrose are just a few examples of sugars.

Sugar has very little nutritional value (or none at all depending on the source). It also tends to suppress the immune system, making it harder to fight off infection.

White Foods:

White bread, white rice, white pasta, are foods that have had the good parts removed and then a few B vitamins added back. They are not whole grains. They contain little, if any fiber. They are missing much of what our bodies need. Enriched flour is also in this category. The starches in these foods are digested and absorbed quickly, raising our blood sugar levels. They are unhealthy and contribute to vitamin deficiencies and obesity.

A healthy body needs whole grains, at least five servings of fruits and vegetables, good fats (for example olive oil), and a little protein. We also need omega 3 fatty acids, which many folks in North America get little to none in their diet. Sources of omega 3 fatty acids are salmon and other cold water fish, and flaxseed oil. We get plenty of omega 6 fatty acids, which is why I supplement my diet with omega 3 fatty acids only.

THE OTHER TWO LEGS OF HEALTH

The second leg to health is exercise. Whether we like it or not we must exercise to have a healthy body. We need to stretch our muscles to prevent injury. We need to exercise our heart by running, swimming, biking, or doing aerobics. And we need to lift weights to help strengthen our muscles and bones.

If you are a lazy person, get off the couch and start walking or find some form of exercise you enjoy doing. On the other hand, if health problems make it difficult for you to exercise, ask God to show you some type of exercise that you can do. You may have to start out simply, but not moving can make a chronic illness more severe. In fact, sometimes fatigue is really a symptom of not moving and not a symptom of a chronic illness.

The third leg to health is our thoughts. Our thoughts can and do make us ill. It is this aspect of our health that this newsletter addresses most often. If we have unhealthy thoughts, or as Pastor Henry Wright says "stinkin thinkin", we will get sick and we will remain sick no matter how healthy we eat or how much we exercise.

So as you seek healing in your life, remember that all three legs of the stool need to be addressed. All three legs of the stool are equally important to a healthy body.

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*Washingtonpost.com. Sweet but Not So Innocent?: High-Fructose Corn Syrup May Act More Like Fat Than Sugar in the Body. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A8003-2003Mar10?language=printer

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2. MESSAGE FROM A FRIEND

Red Blood Cells

Red Blood cells ( Erythrocytes) are formed from the stem cells in the bone marrow by a process called erythropoiesis that takes about 5 days. Their normal life span is 120 days. About 3 million red blood cells are made by the stem cells every second to replace the 3 million that die every second. Their formation requires an adequate supply of nutrients, including iron, amino acids, and the vitamins B12 and folic acid. The rate at which RBCs are formed is influenced by a hormone called erythropoietin , which is produced by the kidneys. Red blood cells contain the iron-rich protein hemoglobin that carries oxygen to all tissues of the body.

Source: http://www.aamdsglossary.co.uk/glossary_qrs.htm

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In a study sponsored by the National Institute on Aging, fitness tests were administered to 46 low-active women divided into two groups. Regardless of how they had actually performed on the fitness test, members of one group were told they had scored in the highest of five levels of fitness, while the others were told that their performance had placed them in the bottom fifth of the group.

All the women were then asked to work out on a Stairmaster. Those who had been told they had scored well on the fitness exam reported less fatigue and a greater sense of well-being from the exercise than the women who believed they had done poorly on the fitness test. Although the study was small, its lesson is an important one: If you believe in your fitness potential, you are more apt to live up to your own expectations!

From: Food & Fitness Advisor

Source: Weekend Encounter, by Dick Innes, Copyright 2002,

3. SITE OF THE WEEK

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DISCLAIMER: The following news stories are provided as a source of scientific information on mind/body medical research, environmental issues, and other topics.   AOCCCI does not necessarily agree with all the viewpoints or suggestions expressed in these articles. Not all viewpoints and/or therapy modalities recommended in these secular news stories are compatible with Christianity. If you have any questions or doubts about a therapy mentioned in a news story below,feel free to contact AOCCCI for advice.   These news stories are provided as a public service only.  

4.1 Any Exercise Is Better Than No Exercise
    Oct. 23, 2002
    (HealthScoutNews) -- A little bit of exercise is better
        than no exercise at all.

Earlier this year, the U.S. federal government issued new exercise guidelines that recommend adults and children spend at least an hour a day in moderately intense physical activity to maintain maximum cardiovascular health.

That's double the daily amount suggested in the 1996 U.S. Surgeon General's report.

While it's a good idea to encourage people to exercise, the new guidelines may actually discourage some people, says Dr. Howard Eisenson, director of the Duke Diet and Fitness Center, at Duke University Medical Center.

He says some people who aren't able to exercise for an hour may feel they have nothing to gain from exercising for shorter periods each day. But Eisenson says those short stretches of exercise do benefit people.

"I would probably disagree with the new guidelines because I think they could give people the impression that unless they're exercising for an hour a day, every day of the week, they're not getting much health benefit," Eisenson says.

"That's not really true. Research shows that the Surgeon General's recommendation from the mid-1990s is still a good one, and if people will exercise for 30 to 40 minutes most days, they will realize health benefits from that," Eisenson says.

That's a good first target for people who are sedentary and will provide them with health benefits. Once they master that amount of exercise, they may choose to increase their amount of exercise to an hour each day.

Eisenson reminds people they don't need to join a gym and use all the latest exercise equipment to get their exercise.

"Regular lifestyle activities are fine, including walking or doing chores around the house. Becoming more physically active is beneficial at whatever level. More might be better, but some is certainly a lot better than none," he says.

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4.2 Exercise Need Not Be Painful: Study
    Feb 18, 2004
    By Merritt McKinney

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - "No pain, no gain" may be the mantra of coaches everywhere, but it's bad advice for most exercisers, research suggests.

In a new study, pain or displeasure was the most accurate indicator that a person had crossed a threshold believed to be the optimum level of exercise.

"As astonishingly simple as it sounds, perhaps the most appropriate level of exercise intensity for health-oriented exercise is the intensity that does not feel unpleasant," lead author Dr. Panteleimon Ekkekakis of Iowa State University, Ames, told Reuters Health.

Ekkekakis noted that it is natural for people not to want to continue doing things that are consistently unpleasant or uncomfortable.

"People will go to the gym after New Year's resolutions, but, if exercise hurts the first few times, after a while they will opt to stay home and watch TV," he said.

Most Americans could benefit from more physical activity, but Ekkekakis said that most people are not very good about estimating how hard they are exercising. People often do more or less than what is recommended, he said.

People who do too little miss out on the full benefits of exercise, but those who do too much may become exhausted and give up.

Ekkekakis explained that there is a specific level of exercise intensity that seems to be appropriate for a wide variety of people. This intensity corresponds to the level of the transition from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism--when the body switches over from burning fuel from aerobic (with oxygen) to anaerobic (without oxygen) sources.

This level of intensity is desirable for several reasons, including the fact that previously sedentary middle-aged and older people seem to get the same benefits at or just below this level than when they exercise at a higher intensity, Ekkekakis said. In addition, people who exercise significantly above this threshold quickly run out of steam.

People are often told to gauge their exercise intensity by measuring their heart rates, but this can be inconvenient, according to Ekkekakis. Another method of measuring exercise intensity involves rating a person's perceived exertion level, but doing this can be tricky, the Iowa researcher noted.

Ekkekakis' team set out to determine the best way to know when a person has reached this exercise threshold. The researchers believed that if a person exceeded the level of the aerobic-anaerobic transition, "that's precisely the point where they will start feeling gradually worse," Ekkekakis said.

"This is exactly what we found in the two samples of college students we tested," he said.

In two groups of 30 students who underwent exercise testing, feelings of pleasure and displeasure were more accurate than heart rate and other measures at determining the aerobic-anaerobic transition, the researchers report in the February issue of the journal Preventive Medicine.

For people who are just starting an exercise program, particularly those who are overweight, the intensity that corresponds to their individual aerobic-anaerobic transition may be very low, "perhaps not faster than a stroll," Ekkekakis said.

He added, "It is important that they stick to the intensity that feels comfortable rather than trying to match cultural expectations of what exercise should look like or feel like to be effective."

Preventive Medicine, February 2004.

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4.3 Different Exercise Makes for Different Effects
    Nov 07, 2004
    By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - People too fat or too weak to start normal exercise may get surprising benefits from a downhill stroll, Austrian researchers reported on Sunday.

Hiking downhill appeared to specifically lower blood glucose levels, in turn reducing the risks or effects of diabetes, according the researchers' study carried out in the Austrian Alps.

"Walking downhill may be a starting mode for sedentary people to begin with exercise," Dr. Heinz Drexel, of the Voralberg Institute in Feldirch, Austria, told a meeting of the American Heart Association (news - web sites).

Hiking may also affect cholesterol levels, Drexel said. Hiking uphill reduced triglycerides, an important component of overall cholesterol. In addition, the so-called "bad cholesterol," low-density lipoprotein (LDL), was lowered by hiking in either direction.

For the study, Drexel and his colleagues at the Vorarlberg Institute persuaded 45 healthy but sedentary people to spend four months hiking on a steep mountain.

For two months, three to five days a week, half of the people hiked uphill and took a cable car back down, while the other half hiked only downhill.

Then they swapped. Drexel's team checked their cable car tickets to make sure they were complying.

A day and a half after a hike the researchers measured cholesterol, including LDL and triglycerides, as well as blood sugar.

Although the researchers had had assumed that hiking downhill would have little beneficial effect, the found that the downhill hikers were better able to handle sugar while hiking upwards showed little impact.

All exercise lowered LDL cholesterol, they found. Uphill hiking also lowered overall triglycerides and helped participants better handle a fat-laden drink.

Drexel said he now wants to test diabetes patients to see if walking downhill will actually help them.

Drexel said that, being Austrian, he has a particular enthusiasm for hiking in steep mountains. "Many groups are trying to find an equivalent in a gymnasium and fitness centers/**/... but it is more fun to do it in nature.

Dr. Gerald Fletcher of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, said different societies will have to apply the findings appropriately. "We don't have mountains in Florida," he noted.

Dr. Raymond Gibbons of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, suggested one adaptation. "I walk up five flights of stairs to my office and take the elevator down," he said.

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4.4 Health Tip: Starting an Exercise Program
    Nov 25, 2004

(HealthDayNews) -- Regular physical activity can help you control your weight, reduce your risk of heart disease, and strengthen aging bones.

But before you lace up your workout shoes, talk to your doctor first, the Mayo Clinic advises, especially if:

--You've been sedentary for more than six months.

--You're a man 40 or older, or a woman 50 or older, and you haven't had a physical examination within two years.

--You've had a heart attack, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure or diabetes.

--Anyone in your family has died of cardiovascular disease before age 50.

--You take medications or follow a special diet for a chronic condition.

--You're pregnant.

--You have noticeable pain or have experienced an injury in a particular joint or muscle.

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4.5 Health Tip: The Importance of Stretching
    Dec 06, 2004

(HealthDayNews) -- A good dose of stretching should precede and follow just about any exercise routine, the American Council on Exercise says.

Stretching -- formally called flexibility training -- allows greater freedom of movement and improved posture, increases physical and mental relaxation, releases muscle tension and soreness, and reduces risk of injury.

Before stretching, take a few minutes to warm up, as stretching cold muscles can cause injury. When performing any stretch, start slowly, exhaling as you gently stretch the muscle. Try to hold each stretch for 10 to 30 seconds, and be sure not to hold your breath.

Ideally, spend at least 30 minutes, three times per week on flexibility training, the council suggests.

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