So what exactly is activated charcoal, the ancient healing substance that has become all the rage in the beauty and skin care business? Simply put, it’s burnt wood that has been magically transformed into a powerful poison filter that can reduce the absorption of drugs, chemicals and other toxins by up to 60%.
To make activated charcoal, wood is burnt in the absence of oxygen at extremely high temperatures, up to 1600 degrees Fahrenheit, to create a black substance called char. The net result is a type of material sometimes referred to as vegetable carbon, that is tremendously porous, with a remarkable surface area; two teaspoons full of activated charcoal has the surface area of an entire football field.
This amplification of porosity and surface area gives activated charcoal its amazing ability to ‘adsorb’ toxins. Adsorption (with an “AD”) is a phenomenon whereby chemicals stick to a surface via chemical attraction. This distinguishes it from absorption (with an “AB”), which can be defined as the complete assimilation of one material into another, as water is into a sponge. Because of the tremendous increase in surface area created by the activation process, activated charcoal can adsorb many times its weight in toxins. This makes the fine black powder incredibly valuable as an antidote for poisons, which readily adhere to the large surface area of the pores like paper clips to a magnet.
That’s why activated charcoal is considered a must have in pharmacies, first aid kits and medicine cabinets around the world. And, it’s considered first line treatment for accidental poisoning in most emergency rooms. Perhaps the most famous example of activated charcoal’s astounding anti-poison properties was the case of Professor Touery, who in 1831 drank 15 grams of strychnine (that is ten times the lethal dose) in front of his medical associates without issue simply because he mixed the deadly substance with activated charcoal.
Estrogen can be dangerous stuff. Sure, it’s an important hormone, responsible for the development of the fetus in the womb, the growth of connective tissue and the development of female sexual characteristics. Though it's the most ancient of all of our hormones (it’s been around for 450 million years), it’s also associated with a wide range of health problems including fibroids, weight gain and cancers. It is pro-inflammatory, initiates the production of stress chemicals, and it’s linked to various particularly dangerous cancers including breast, uterine, colon and prostate cancer.
Even worse, there are certain chemicals, natural and synthetic, that, while not exactly estrogen, can act like it, throwing off the delicate balance of the body’s endogenous hormones. These so called ‘estrogen mimics’ or non-biological estrogen-like substances called xeno-estrogens (xeno meaning “foreign”) include birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), as well as fertilizers and pesticides, all of which all have estrogen or estrogen-like activity. The levels of these xeno-estrogens have increased dramatically in our environment over the last 60 or 70 years.
One of the most significant causes of xeno-estrogen exposure occurs through foods. Over the past 60 or so years, the FDA has approved xeno-estrogenic substances for use in livestock. As a growth substance, estrogen is used to fatten farm animals. It increases the animals’ growth rate and the efficiency by which they convert the feed they eat into meat.
If you’re looking for a vegan protein powder, you might want to think about ground up flaxseeds. They contain up to 30 proteins, which works out to around 10 grams per 1 ounce scoop. Although they don’t have all the essential amino acids – they're missing lysine which is important for connective tissue – they have a good amount of both arginine and glutamine, which are youth promoting and build amino acids.
At $2.00 or so a pound (and that’s for the organic type), the price is certainly right.
Flaxseeds are chock full of other nutrients, including Omega 3 fatty acids, thiamine, manganese, magnesium and potassium. They’re also good sources of selenium and zinc, important for prostate health and the health of the male reproductive system. Selenium and zinc also make flaxseeds the perfect anti-diabetic food. In my opinion, using flaxseed fiber after meals or even just once a day as a supplement can be a powerful way to keep blood sugar stable.
“Americans are so restless that they have invented a rocking chair in which they move while they sit!”
-Anonymous French writer quoted by Norman Vincent Peale in “A Guide for Confident Living”
Relaxation!
Babies, puppies and kitties are experts at it, professional athletes practice it, health care professionals advise it and all of us require daily doses of it for a long, illness-free life. Intelligent eating habits, abundant nutrition, hydration, and regular exercise are all crucial for good health, but when it comes to wellness, keeping it, increasing it and restoring it, nothing is more important than simple rest, repose and relaxation.
We all love to loaf, but to experience the full health benefits of relaxation, it’s important to practice a more active form of repose. I call it “deep relaxation”. When done correctly, it helps our minds stop racing and liberates our bodies from tension.
A daily , deep relaxation practice requires focus and intention; we have to really want to relax. While it may seem ironic, this kind of active relaxation has been shown to have many profound and lasting benefits, most notably, reducing stress and its symptoms by:
When most of us hear the word yoga, we visualize super bendy, gooey-muscled gurus and impossible contorted poses. If we know a little more, we may think of relaxation or centering and strengthening. While it’s true that yoga can be all of these things, just 5 or 10 minutes of daily yoga can relax both body and mind, releasing tension that accumulates in the muscles, and pacifying an overworked brain. In actuality, yoga is so much more.
The term “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit word for unification, as in to “yoke” or connect. Yoga was originally intended to describe a complete physical, emotional, mental and spiritual practice that linked of these four aspects of being. Historically, this connection was solidified by activities that consisted of 8 fundamental elements which, when they were exercised regularly and consciously, were said to support and promote a joyful and actualized life through moral and ethical conduct and self-discipline. This eightfold path, called Ashtanga – which literally means “eight limbs” (ashta=eight, anga=limb) – directs our minds toward our health and well-being, while helping us acknowledge all aspects of our nature and the nature of others.
