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Early morning, around 6am (no argghhh’s!!!), is our natural bodily cycle for most effective ELIMINATION. By taking the cleansing drink at this time is the best way to optimise this natural process. Remember, one of the keys to great energy & vitality, is proper elimination of waste products.

If you take a while to get going in the morning, ‘things’ are a bit slow to move or you just want to keep your insides clean & be a bit more ‘sparky, take the following, first thing each morning.

Like to know a really easy way to help get your daily intake of essential minerals, fibre, omega 3 & 6 and amino acids? Add some SEEDS to your diet. Sue Nelson wrote a fantastic article on seeds just a month ago in the SMHerald. I couldn’t agree more. As Australians – due to poor soil quality, poor food choices (processed foods etc) and poor digestion – we are generally mineral deficient. Most dieticians agree that it’s not vitamins we have to worry about so much but minerals. Below I have listed some common seeds you can use to boost your diet – their benefits etc.

Where appropriate, I have also mentioned any cautions from the Ayurvedic perspective, as not all seeds are appropriate for all people at all times.

Like to stay ‘eternally young’ and live a long, healthy life?

This is the first in our series of ’10 Key Things to Slow the Aging Process & Live a Long Life, without ‘Growing Old’. * inspired by a request from Susi Wright – the poor old thing turned 34 last week. We hope you enjoy.

Take a minute to add up your ‘Total Activity Time’ for last week – or a typical week. Include any activity over 3 minutes in duration – do not worry about intensity – just that you are moving, e.g. any walking – to bus stop, to office, to church, to the ice-cream shop!! Any structured exercise – gym, jogging, ‘real’ sports (lawn bowls only counts for 25% – no offense!). Other activities – chasing/playing with your kids, chasing/playing with spouse!!

Are you regularly tired or constipated? Do you ever get dizzy? Do you drink the right amount of fluid each day? Do you know that you can drink ‘too much’ (water that is)? Why is drinking 8 glasses of water/day not necessarily good for you? Like a Weight Loss tip or two? It’s all below.

Would you like to add massive anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant & digestion / metabolism boosting activity to your body each day?

Sometimes we can get so consumed analyzing calories, fat ratios, vitamin %’s etc, we forget about the unbelievable power of traditional herbs/spices – not the KFC variety!!!

As a rule, we westerners don’t use spices nearly enough, so this week, if you are not already, add some or all of the following into your cooking to start reaping some amazing benefits.

If exercising for weight loss/weight management, don’t make the mistake that you have to exercise at high intensity. It’s commonly prescribed that the higher intensity, the greater the calories we burn. While this is true (during exercise), the calories burned in one high intensity workout is insignificant in comparison to the calories from one decent meal.

Atkins, South Beach…Low Carb diets are all the rage…but are they good for us?

The first thing to clarify is what we mean by good. The most important thing to remember is that these diets are ‘Weight Loss’ diets, NOT HEALTH DIETS. For losing weight, yes they can work great…however for overall health, they can be disastrous.

In the news this week was a major article about whether raw milk (unpasteurised) was healthy or harmful. If you are not aware, there is quite a large underground movement of people who drink raw milk. I.e. milk that is unpasteurised. However, because unpasteurised milk is considered illegal by authorities (in Australia), health food shops that sell it, can only sell it for ‘cosmetic purposes’, often labelling it as ‘bath’ milk (e.g. Cleopatra’s Bath milk)..

What do I think?

Three people get stressed at work, one has a nervous breakdown, one has a heart attack and the other develops diabetes.

Why do three different people on the same exercise program get three completely different results?

Have you ever wondered why any of the millions of diets that have been invented, none ever work for everyone?

In fact, if you looked closely, you would find that any diet or exercise regime etc, works great for about one third of the population, is averagely successful for another third, and for the other third, they are downright damaging to one’s health.

Why is this so?

4. Make Diet/Lifestyle Changes Gradually

In contrast to our modern Western way of wanting to go ‘cold turkey’ or change bad habits ‘overnight’, in Ayurveda, it is recommended that any behavioural change is done gradually. Doctor Raju even mentioned that this applies when wanting to give up or change some ‘unwholesome’ or ‘health compromising’ behaviour. E.g. smoking, weaning off drugs or eating yoghurt at night.

I’ve just returned from a month in India with one of India’s greatest exponents of Ayurvedic medicine – Doctor JR Raju. It was said that there are only five families in India/the world that possess the full knowledge of Ayurveda, and that Dr Raju belongs to one of them. Anyway, I thought this month (and next) you might enjoy some of the more ‘everyday’ health wisdoms as recounted by Doctor Raju in a few of the seminars and private meetings I was fortunate enough to have with him. I have started with three tips. I hope you enjoy.

Do You Know That Different Foods Nourish Different Organs?

Have you ever wished you knew what foods were good for what things, without needing to do a nutrition course for years or consult a dietician?

If you want to strengthen your bones, improve your eyesight or nourish your heart, would you like to have a good idea of what foods nourish those organs without needing to consult some external expert or book?

1. Pasco, JA. Henry, MJ. Nicholson, GC. et al. Vitamin D status of women in the Geelong Osteoporosis Study: Association with diet and casual exposure to sunlight. Med J Aust 2001; 175: 401-405.
2. McGrath, JJ. Kimlin, MG. Saha, S. et al. Vitamin D insufficiency in south-east Queensland. Med J Aust 2001; 174: 150-151.
3. Grover, S. Morley, R. Vitamin D deficiency in veiled or dark-skinned pregnant women. Med J Aust. 2001: 175: 251-252.
4. Nowson, C. MacInnis, R. Stein, M. et al. Vitamin D deficiency in residential care facilities in Australia. Proc Nut Soc Aust. 2000: 24: 154.
5. Parfitt, AM. Osteomalacia and related disorders. In: Avioli LV, Krane, SM. eds. Metabolic bone disease and clinically related disorders. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 1990:329-96.
6. Holick, MF. Vitamin D: importance in the prevention of cancers, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 2004. Vol. 79, No. 3, 362-371.
7. Puchacz, E. Stumpf, WE. Stachowiak, EK. Stachowiak, MK. Vitamin D increases expression of the tyrosine hydroxylase gene in adrenal medullary cells. Brain Res.Mol. 1996. 36:193-6.
8. Gloth, FM 3rd. Alam, W. Hollis, B. Vitamin D versus broad spectrum phototherapy in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder. J Nutr Health Aging. 1999. 3(1):5-7.
9. Holick, MF. Sunlight and vitamin D for bone health and prevention of autoimmune diseases, cancers, and cardiovascular disease. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, December 2004. Vol. 80, No. 6, 1678S-1688S.
10. Merlino, LA. Curtis, J. Mikuls, TR. Cerhan, JR. Criswell, LA. Saag, KG. Vitamin D intake is inversely associated with rheumatoid arthritis: Results from the Iowa Women’s Health Study. Arthritis and Rheumatism. 2004. 50: 1.PG: 72-77.
11. Pappa, HM. Gordon, CM. Saslowsky, TM. Zholudev, A. Horr, B. Shih, MC. Grand, RJ. Vitamin D Status in Children and Young Adults With Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Pediatrics Nov 2006. 118(5). 1950 – 1961.
12. Munger, KL. Zhang, SM. O’Reilly, E. Hernán, MA. Olek, MJ. Willett, WC. Ascherio, A. Vitamin D intake and incidence of multiple sclerosis. Neurology 2004; 62:60-65.
13. Munger, KL. Levin, LI. Hollis, BW. Howard, NS. Ascherio, A. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and risk of multiple sclerosis. JAMA 2006; 296:2832-8.
14. . Grant, WB. An estimate of premature cancer mortality in the U.S. due to inadequate doses of solar ultraviolet-B radiation. Cancer. March 2002; 94:1867-75.
15. Grant, WB. An ecologic study of dietary and solar ultraviolet-B links to breast carcinoma mortality rates. Cancer 2002 Jan 1:94 (1):272-81.
16. Lamprecht, SA. Lipkin, M. Cellular mechanisms of calcium and vitamin D in the inhibition of colorectal carcinogenesis. Ann N Y Acad Sci. Dec 2001, 952:73-87.
17. Mokady, E. Schwartz, B. Shany, S. A protective role of dietary vitamin D3 in rat colon carcinogenesis. Nutr Cancer. 2000: 38(1):65-73.
18. Polek, TC. Weigel, NL. Vitamin D and prostate cancer. J Androl. 2002 Jan-Feb;23(1):9-17.
19. Tuohimaa, P. Lyakhovich, A. Aksenov, N. Vitamin D and prostate cancer. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2001 Jan-Mar;76(1-5):125-34
20. see Reference 14 – Grant, WB.
21. US National Institutes of Health website – https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp
22. Grant, WB. An estimate of premature cancer mortality in the U.S. due to inadequate doses of solar ultraviolet-B radiation. Cancer. March 2002; 94:1867-75.
23. Grant, WB. Insufficient sunlight may kill 45,000 Americans each year from internal cancer J Col Dermatol. 2004: 3.176-78.
24. Grant, WB. Garland, CF. Holick, MF. Comparisons of estimated economic burdens due to insufficient solar ultraviolet irradiance and vitamin D and excess solar UV for the United States. Photochem Photobiol. 2005. 81:1276-1286.
25. . Grant, WB. Garland, CF. The association of solar ultraviolet B (UVB) with reducing risk of cancer: multifactorial ecologic analysis of geographic variation in age-adjusted cancer mortality rates. Anticancer Res 2006; 26:2687-99.
26. Godar, DE. Landry, RJ. Lucas, AD. Increased UVA exposures and decreased cutaneous Vitamin D(3) levels may be responsible for the increasing incidence of melanoma. Med Hypotheses. 2009 Apr;72(4):434-43.
27. Dr Holick is the author of the books, ‘The Vitamin D Solution’ and ‘The UV Advantage’
28. Gilchrest, B. Eller, M. Geller, A. Yaar, M. The Pathogenesis of Melanoma Induced by Ultraviolet Radiation. The New England Journal of Medicine. April 29, 1999.
29. Refer 26. Godar, DE et al.
30. Moan, J. Dahlback, A. Porojnicu, AC. At what time should one go out in the sun. Advanced Experiments in Medical Biology 2008; 624: 86-88.
31. Sullivan, K. Naked at Noon, Understanding Sunlight and Vitamin D, 2002.
32. There are a number of correlation studies suggesting a link between chemical sunscreens and increased melanoma. A couple of good examples include

Other good resources include,

Krispin Sullivan’s book, Naked at Noon
www.sunarc.org
https://sunlightandvitamind.com
https://www.mercola.com/2002/feb/23/vitamin_d.htm
Dr. Michael Holick’s books, The Vitamin D Solution & The UV Advantage.

A Natural Wisdom Guide to the Importance of Sunlight, Why Getting ‘Too Little’ Midday Sun Can Be Fatal and a More Holistic View of Skin Cancer

This article is an extended version of what appears in Mark’s first book of his ‘Wisdoms of Health’ series: ‘Ancient Wisdom for Modern Health’ – the simple secrets of the world’s healthiest and longest living people

Do you think that the only problem regarding the sun is getting too much…as opposed to too little?

I was walking past the fruit & veg section in the supermarket the other day, and seeing those shiny, oversized, plastic looking, almost fake, pieces of fruit made me think of Hollywood actresses (shiny, oversized, plastic looking …but generally fake!). Then I thought, “I wonder if people like you, stop to consider how those tomatoes look so shiny (chemical sprays), how those apples get as big as Texas (growth accelerants) and why those strawberries left over from World war II, still haven’t rotted (irradiation)!!!”

Anyway, should you or shouldn’t you eat organic? Is there much of a difference & is the added cost really worth it? Let’s have a look.

Good afternoon wisdom of health seeker.

A few people who have read my first book, which talks about the Ayurvedic (and yoga) wisdom of nasal breathing during exercise, have asked about nasal breathing while swimming. It’s a great question, so I thought I would post a quick answer here.

Did you know that getting some sun at the exact time most experts tell you NOT to – in the ‘middle of the day’ – may in fact be absolutely critical for your health!

With some great media coverage and work by groups such as the Australian Cancer Council over the last few years, most of us are now aware of the widespread problems associated with vitamin D deficiency. These include most common cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, bacterial and viral infections, autoimmune diseases such as asthma and multiple sclerosis, depression and many others.

However, what most people STILL don’t realise is that the commonly heard advice to get our sun exposure in either the early morning or late afternoon may greatly compromise our health.

People often ask what I have for breakfast. I have a variety of things, depending on the season, my appetite, and what ‘I feel like’. but here is one of my all-time favourites – its super healthy, super delicious, and super green.

Just as we spring clean our house, the ancient traditions of health advise that we should also spring clean our insides. While in my ‘Year-round health & well-being program’, we go through a number of suggestions to do this, one great (but easy) little tip to help you ‘internally’ spring clean your body is to take the following drink first thing each morning (you can do it right through summer).