Qi Gong for Weight Loss

Simple Qi Gong can be effective in helping you to lose weight.  Anything which raises your qi levels, or your vital energy force, will help you to overcome health problems and addiction problems.

The art of Qi gong has developed from the ancient martial arts of China and other areas. It combines movement with meditation. This Qi gong exercise is from Professor Yu’s system for generating Qi in the body,  and promoting harmony in the mind. However, the exercise included here  is an adaptation of his original teachings.

Here is the simple Standing Qi gong exercise which will help to build up strength in your nervous system.  The more you practice the exercise, the better things will be, as your perseverance and determination will be strengthened as well as your physical body.

Although it appears as if you are ‘doing nothing’, the exertion from holding this posture  helps to remove toxins from the body.  You  will find that, with  extended periods of holding the posture, that you begin to sweat.  This  aids elimination of toxins from the body, invigorates the vital organs,  and cleanses the skin.

If you persist with this exercise and practice good eating habits:  eat brown rice with vegetables and protein;  resist all those problematic foods such as wheat products, bread,  dairy, and sugar;  then you should lose some weight.

So now – get ready to perform the exercise.

Step One: Make sure your bowels and bladder are empty, and the phone is off the hook. Eat something light before you begin, such as a bowl of porridge or rice,  or some fruit.

Step Two: Simply stand with your feet apart, so that the feet are level with the shoulders. The hands hang loosely at your sides at this point.

Step Three: Slowly bring the arms up in a fluid movement in front of you so that the palms face downwards to the floor.  The arms are fully stretched out in front of the chest now, palms down.  Your knees are still bent.  Make sure the posture is erect.  Your back should be nice and straight with your nose in line with your navel.

Step Four: Simply stay in this position whilst you breath normally, watching the breath flow.

Just do the exercise for as long as is comfortable.  Even  a couple of minutes will do to begin with.  Try to perform the exercise twice  day.  Do in the morning, and again in the evening before bed.  Build up the time you spend on the exercise, increasing gradually.

Finish the exercise by gently stroking the face, from the temples downward.  Then stroke the arms from the shoulders down to the fingers.

The next step is to getly massage the abdomen in a circular motion with the right hand.  Do this just three times.

Next, rub your back with your clenched knuckles. Just half a dozen rubs over the kidney and back area.

Now sit down ad massage the legs briefly, from the thigh area down to the calves to the ankles.

Benefits of Avocado

The Avocado Plant, Persea Americana from the Lauraceae family, has been widely used in Guatemala and parts of  Africa and South America for centuries by indigenous peoples.  The benefits of avocado to the health are  now widely appreciated in the Western world, where avocado salad has become a popular health item to add nourishment to a meal.

Avocado essential fatty acids are known to benefit the hair, skin, teeth, bones and nails, and make it  a great nerve food. The benefits of avocado oils on the brain and eyes  has also been fairly well established.

Avocado is rich in antioxidants and phytonutrients which are of huge benefit to maintaining a healthy immune system and a strong body. Avocado also contains vitamins A, B6, C, D, and E.  It contains protein, fats, folate, potassium and traces of zinc. It is thought by many that avocado fruit and its oil  may help to prevent cancer, although no test tube experiment has yet been conducted which proves this for a fact.

The Benefits of Avocado as a cancer preventative are espoused in:  Natural Remedies That Really WorkA New Zealand Guide, written by Dr Shaun Holt and Iona MacDonald.  This is published by Craig Potton publishing, P.O. Box 555 Nelson, N.Z.

In this book, the authors state ‘

  • ‘This paper summarises the many studies that indicate that certain chemicals found in avocado act on many pathways in the cancer process.  Although not yet proven, it follows that avocado in the diet may prevent cancer’. (p.183)

The authors go on to say that phytochemicals from the Hass avocado had a favourable result on ‘multiple signalling pathways’  of precancerous cell lines, and increased the amount of ‘reactive oxygen’ to these areas:   One would  assume that this whould  decrease or halt the growth of cancer. The phytochemicals derived from the avocado did not seem to harm normal cells.

The authors of  Natural Remedies that Really Work warn about complications which might arise if you eat avocados while you are taking medication.  Some foods react adversely with some drugs such as blood thinners, and psychiatric drugs and anticonvulsants. You need to ask your doctor or health professional about including avocados in your diet if you are taking medication.

Important:  The following list is  of Avocado Benefits is for information only and is not intended to serve medical needs.  Go to your doctor or health professional for advice if you are sick.

List of The Main Benefits of Avocado to the Health are:

  • The pulp is an excellent source of  protein to add to the diet.  Avocado contains about 25% protein.
  • Avocado pulp is rich in essential fatty acids.
  • The pulped avocado flesh can be applied to wounds or burns or sores to assist healing.  It can be applied as a poultice in these cases, and fresh applications put on three times a day.
  • Avocado Oil benefits the skin:  The mashed pulp can be applied to the skin as a natural organic facepack to improve its texture.  It can be left on for half an hour and then rinsed off. This has a cleansing and rejuvenating  action on the skin.
  • Avocado is high in Vitamins A, B1 and B2 and Vitamin E.
  • The fruit has been shown to reduce cholesterol levels.
  • The fruit has been used in traditional medicine as an aphrodisiac.
  • Compounds  extracted from the leaves, which are astringent,have been used to treat  the herpes simplex virus, which includes cold sores and genital herpes.
  • The astringent leaves and bark have traditionally been used to bring on menstruation.  Preparations can also be made from the leaves to help diarrhoea, and stomach complaints, coughs and liver disfunction.
  •  NOTE the leaves and bark of the avocado  should not be used for any reason by pregnant women, as this could cause a miscarriage.
  • Gout can be helped by using special preparations from the leaves:  the leaves have compounds in them which reduce uric acid from the body.
  • The rind is used as a worm expellant by native peoples in Guatemala
  • The seeds are used by native peoples to treat diarrhoea.
  • It is used externally as a stimulation for hair growth.  The pulp of the fruit can be applied, or oil extracted from the seed used to massage into the hair.
  • Some quirky information:  Avocado leaves and bark contain flavanoids, tannin and  the volatile oil methylchavicol, alpha-pinene.   The pulp, aside from those  vitamins and elements listed above, contains sesquiterpenes.
  • Read more about the Benefits of Avocado in the Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants by Andrew Chevallier, 1996 and 2001, publishers  Dorling Kimberley, Sydney, Australia.

Gluten Free Banana Bread

Gluten Free Banana Bread has always been a favorite with my family.

This high fiber banana bread recipe is entirely gluten free, and so is a good alternative for people with the coeliac condition, for people who have an allergy to wheat, or simply for people who want to avoid eating wheat for the betterment of their health.

This bread is highly nuitritious, with the added health bonus of flaxseed, or linseed for added fiber.  It is ideal for those school lunches or for your work lunch box.   It is a great picnic item, as this moist bread slices easily.

Gluten Free Banana Bread With Flaxseed.

Pre-heat the oven to 325 F  or 180 C.

  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 3 free range organic eggs
  • 1/2 cup of coconut milk or dairy yogurt
  • 3/4 cup olive oil or grapeseed oil
  • 1 large ripe mashed banana
  • 1/2 cup dessicated coconut
  • 3/4 cup ground linseed/flaxseed
  • 3/4 cup chick pea flour
  • 1/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal
  • 1/4 cup fine rice flour
  • 1/4 cup arrowroot flour
  • 2 tsps baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda

Beat together the oil, eggs, mashed banana, sugar and coconut milk or yogurt.  Add the chick pea flour, rice flour, cornmeal and arrowroot flour with the baking powder and soda.  Stir until smooth.

Line 2 loaf tins  with butter paper, or oiled greaseproof paper.  Pour the mixture into the loaf tins.

Bake for 3/4 hour, or until the loaf has turned brown and the loaf is firm.

Let cool with the paper still on the loaf.  This is best left for a day before cutting, but you can use it right away.

Fast Home Remedies for Acne

Fast Home Remedies for Acne

Merrilyn’s Three Day Porridge Cleanse.  This treatment works  mainly  by healing the acne from the inside by cleansing the liver – you eat  porridge to help assist cleansing, and nourish the body whilst you are doing it.  With this treatment, determination is the key factor, as its success relies on your persistence in avoiding other cooked foods and dairy products.

This treatment is designed to rid the body of all those harmful poisons which it is harbouring, as it is these, essentially, which make you sick. The theory is that if you cleanse  the intestines, which cleanses  the blood, and you provide nourishing and cleansing foods to the digestion after that, then the skin and all other organs should  function normally again.

The following procedure is a treatment which has been successful with some poeple.  However, you should visit your doctor or health professional for advice if you have an ongoing problem with acne. Sometimes an antibiotic, Chinese medicine,  a traditional Tibetan Buddhist remedy,  homeopathy, or some other modality might be needed to treat the acne, especially if there is some underlying inherent cause such as a hormonal imbalance.

Day One:   Eat the following high fiber food at breakfast,  between 7 and 8 am each day. It is good to get into a routine for breakfast.  Try to keep to the same time, as this helps the digestion.

Oatmeal Porridge:  Make up a big plate of oatmeal porridge for breakfast- about a cup or two of porridge.  Grate a large apple up whole, preferably an organic apple, and put this on top. Add four or five chopped dates for sweetening.  Add two tablespoonsful of olive oil, or grapeseed oil, or a knob of butter, and a tablespoonful  of ground linseed/ flaxseed and  a tablespoon of sesame seeds.  Eat the lot without any added sweetening or milk. If you add milk or sugar to this porridge, you spoil the cleansing effect.

The high fiber of this breakfast provides the start of your cleanse. If you are still hungry after this, then fasting on apples will enhance the effect of your cleanse. Eat another apple, or some grapes.  But no more cooked food for the day.

On the first day, at ten o’clock take one tablespoon of castor oil, followed by a cup of black coffee.  If you like, you can use a herbal tea instead, like chamomile or pepperment. If you feel nauseous after the castor oil, then drink more herbal tea.  Peppermint tea helps to quell nausea.

On the hour, every hour through the day, eat an apple,  eat some grapes, or take a glass of carrot or apple  juice.

Of course you can do this cleanse without using enemas, but enemas are strongly recommended, especially if the body has become very toxic.  Auto intoxication can occur from eating too many processed foods, and not enough fiber or raw food.  Or you may be sensitive to the gluten in wheat which can cause the bowel to malfunction:  this causes toxicity in the body.  You might have been exposed to chemical poisons over the years which have accumulated in your liver.

You  really need to use an enema within five hours of taking the castor oil. Dr Max Gerson found that using an enema quickened up the healing process, because it ridded the body quickly of all the poisons which begin to escape from the liver once you take the castor oil. Home enemas are inexpensive and easy to perform.  However, if you really cannot bring yourself to irrigate your own bowel, then go to see a professional for a colonic irrigation.

For lunch, make up a big salad of any raw vegetables that you fancy.  Lettuce and sprouted mung beans, avocado,  grated carrot, grated beetroot, chopped spinach – any of these is good. You can take a glass of carrot juice  or apple juice with this.

For tea, make another big salad of raw vegetables.  Take another glass of carrot juice or apple juice.

Day Two:  Follow the same procedure as for day one, but do not take any castor oil on the second day.

Day Three:  Follow the same procedure as for day one, but increase the castor oil dose to two tablespoonsfuls.

Fourth Day – How to break  the Three Day  Cleanse:  Keep eating the oatmeal porridge in the morning.  Start eating brown rice at meal times. Keep eating plenty of salads at midday and for the evening meal, but add good quality protein to the meal, with the addition of cooked green vegetables.

Aim at eating more protein in the diet, with plenty of green vegetables, and less of the grain carbohydrates.

Try to stay off dairy products, except for butter.  Dairy products create mucous in the body which clog up the digestive system.  Avoid wheat products, especially bread which is risen with yeast.  Bread eating in Western diets  is another cause of so much illness. 

Avoid all products which have yeast added, or which are fermented. This includes all alcohol, vinegar,  and products which have yeast added, like soy sauce, tofu and tempeh.  Tomato sauce is made with vinegar, so it is best left alone until you recover properly.

Substitute rice for bread:  Eat a plate of brown rice with some protein, oil, and some vegetables instead of munching on a slice of toast or bread. Have some brown rice ready cooked ready in the fridge to use each day as a wheat substitute.

Eggs are good for the skin.  Eggs contain protein, and lots of vitamins.  Eat several each week, unless you have an allergy, or your doctor has instructed you not to eat them.  Raw egg yolk is even better than eating the whole egg when you are on a diet of maximum nutrition.  Egg yolk contains natural lecithin, which helps you to digest fats.

Fish is nourishing to the skin hair and nails.  Sardines, mackerel, salmon, tuna, are all good as tinned fish, but you can eat any fresh fish- hopefully it comes from clean unpolluted waters.

Eat plenty of green vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, silver beet, cooked cabbage, raw lettuce and sprouted grains and seeds.

Eat several pieces of raw fruit a day.

Eat a handful of sesame seeds at least once a day for extra calcium. One heaped tablespoon contains about 1200mg of calcium and magnesium.

Avoid drinking too much coffee.  Avoid drinking tea made with milk in it, as milk becomes hard to digest once it is mixed with milk. This causes strain on the liver, and the result is undigested protein material which polllutes your bowels and your skin.  Black tea is better.  Drink more green tea and herbal teas.

Avoid alcohol and other drugs.

Drink  several glasses of water during the day, or freshly pressed carrot or apple juice diluted with water.

Herbal Teas and Hot Water:  Drinking  medium-to-hot water on its own, or in a herbal tea, or a green tea, helps to cleanse toxins out of the system, and is very beneficial for acne.  If you drink three or four  herb teas or green tea in a day, then you can  drink less tap water.  Vary your teas a little – two cups of green tea in a day is enough.  Try some chamomile or rose hip for variation.

Treat the acne affected area with probiotic yogurt or fresh kiwifruit juice.  Put either of these on the skin each day and leave for at least an hour if you can.  Continue  with daily treatments, while you follow your special acne cleansing diet above, until the acne has cleared up.

Herbal Steambaths can be helpful in treating acne, in combination with other treatments such as the liver cleanse above.  Use fresh or dried herbs such as sprigs of lavender or rosemary or calendula.  Put between 1/2 to 1 cup of fresh herbs in a bowl.  Pour over boiling water. Leave to cool for a minute, so that the water is not actually boiling.  Then use as a steam bath:  cover your head with a towel, and keep the head several inches over the bowl so that the pores of your skin will benefit from the steam.  This cleanses the pores, and the steam and the active herbal vapours help to reduce infection.

Take care not to get too close to the hot water – you do not want to burn either your lungs or your skin. Steambath for about 5 minutes, or less if it is uncomfortable.

Flaxseed Health Benefits

Flaxseed, or Linseed has many, many health benefits. For a start, it is one of the most beneficial foods for preventing heart disease.  But just take a look at the list of flaxseed health benefits below……

Linseed oil, now more commonly known as flaxseed oil, has been used for centuries in the palette of the artist, but it is only fairly recently that flaxseed, or linseed, has become widely used in other palettes:  it is now recognised in westernised countries for its valuable health giving properties and used as  a health-giving addition to the diet by many people all over the world.

  • Ground linseed, or flaxseed is beneficial to the heart.
  • Linseed is high in omega-3 fatty acids which help to lower ‘bad’ cholesterol in the body.
  • Flaxseed taken daily helps  reduces the incidence of stroke, blood clots, and heart disease.
  • It helps prevent atherosclerosis.
  • It increases the metabolic rate of the heart muscle.
  • It is regarded as a cancer preventative and as a beneficial addition to the diet for those who have cancer. This is because the omega-3 fatty acids have an effect on the body’s manufacture of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are necessary, but if you produce too many, then this can lead to tumour growth. Linseed regulates the prostaglandin making process.
  • Another of the flaxseed health benefits is that it acts as an antioxidant.  This helps the heart, helps prevent cancer and other disease, and improves your immune system.
  • It is beneficial to the kidneys
  • Flaxseed in the daily diet has been known to  help lupus sufferers to restore their kidney function.
  • Omega-3 fatty acids in flaxseed or linseed help the nervous system to stay healthy and function well.
  • Flaxseed is good brain food:  Omega-3  fatty acids in flaxseed  have a valuable effect on the nerves, and well nourished nerves help you to maintain good vision and an alert brain.
  • High Fiber: Flaxseed, either ground or whole,  provides great fiber for your intestines.  High fiber in the diet definitely reduces the risk of getting colon cancer. High fiber also keeps cholesterol levels balanced and keeps your intestines clean of effete matter.
  • Another flaxseed health benefit is that it improves the skin.  It sometimes works to heal long-term skin conditions like psoriasis,  eczema and acne, when other treatments seem to fail.  This is partly due to the better functioning of the bowel when flaxseed is included. An application of flaxseed oil, used externally on the skin, has been effective in treating some skin conditions, as well as taking the ground flaxseed in the diet daily.
  • It is helpful to the growth of the hair.  Taking flaxseed every day in the diet will help you regrow hair and improve your skin, bone and nail tissue.

Note: The flaxseed, or linseed must be ground up in your blender, or coffee grinder for it to be truly efficacious.  Taking whole linseed provides good fiber for the intestines,  for sure, but you get more nutrients  and oils out of the seeds when they are ground.

See merrilyn’s post entitled Gluten Free Banana Bread for a nutritious banana bread with added flaxseed.