Cinnamon is a small tree that grows in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam, and Egypt.

Cinnamon is one of the oldest known spices. To prepare it, the bark of the cinnamon tree is dried and rolled into cinnamon sticks, also called quills. Cinnamon is also dried and ground into powder.

Studies have shown that just 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon per day can lower LDL cholesterol.

When cinnamon is added to food, it inhibits bacterial growth and food spoilage, making it a natural food preservative.

One study found that smelling cinnamon boosts cognitive function and memory.

Are you aware that Cinnamon is a great source of manganese, fiber, iron, and calcium?

Four Kinds of Cinnamon:

1. Korintje Cassia Cinnamon- sweet and mellow.

2. Ceylon Cinnamon- complex and fragrant, with a citrus overtone and rich buff color.

3. China Cassia Cinnamon-strong and spicier than Korintje, with a potent, sweet flavor

4. Vietnamese Cinnamon-extremely sweet and flavorful.

In Doreen Virtue’s book, Constant Craving, she outlines the four primary emotions behind emotional overeating.

1. Fear: Insecurity; walking on eggshells, generalized fears; abandonment fears; existential fears; control issues; sexual fears; worry; anxiety; depression; intimacy fears.
2. Anger: Toward another person; toward an injustice; toward self; feeling betrayed; feeling ripped-off; feeling abused.
3. Tension: Stress; frustration; old anger turned into bitterness or resentment; jealousy; impatience; overwork without an emotional release such as fun.
4. Shame: Self-blame; low self-esteem; self-loathing; lack of trust in one’s own competence or goodness; assuming other people won’t like you; feeling less than others; feeling like you don’t deserve good.

Did you notice that these four primary emotions spell FATS? We know very definitively what happens when we consume too many fats. Doreen continues by saying that when we bottle up our emotions, it’s akin to putting a cork on a vinegar-and-baking soda combination. The ignored emotion doesn’t go away; it intensifies. The more you ignore the stronger it grows.

When we ignore things in our lives that bother us they often manifest into something that can get out of control quickly. Evaluate where you are and make a change.

Your body’s unique intelligence has a way of telling you when something is wrong and it needs help. Not understanding this language makes it difficult to know when your body is talking to you. Each area of your face manifests a corresponding organ and how it is functioning in the body. 

For example:

• The mouth is the entrance to the digestive tract.
  
• The nose is the entrance to the respiratory system.
  
• The eyes are connected to the optic nerve, brain and nervous system.
  
• The ears are the auditory system.
  

How this looks on your face:

• Your cheeks represent lungs and their condition.
  
• Tip of the nose is heart.
  
• Nostrils represent the bronchi of the lungs.
  
• Middle part of the nose is stomach.
  
• Upper part of the nose is pancreas.
  
• Under the eyes reflect your kidneys.
  
• Between the eyebrows shows liver condition.
  
• The temples reflect your spleen.
  
• Your forehead represents small intestines.
  
• Peripheral forehead the large intestine.
  
• Upper forehead shows the bladder.
  
• Ears can reflect kidney function.
  
• Your mouth reflects the condition of your entire digestive tract.
  
• Around the mouth indicates the condition of your sexual organs.
  

You can easily apply these guidelines to your personal health:

• Women tend to break out under their lower lip when approaching their monthly menstruation or with hormone fluctuations.
  
• Gum and tooth infections are related to the condition of the intestines and much of this can be resolved by improving your diet and allowing the organs to detoxify naturally.
  
• Someone with a large bulbous nose shows a heart straining against clogged arteries.
  
• Swollen under-eyes reflect kidneys unable to work properly, and a retention of fluid from eating too much salt and fatty foods.
  
• The classic lines between the eyebrows shows your liver working hard to keep up with your lifestyle.
  
• Yellowing of the whites of the eyes can indicate liver jaundice.
  

Basically, the condition of your health is all right there, each morning, in front of your eyes. Your face never lies. It shows us when energy becomes blocked in any part of the body, it affects us both internally and externally. According to visual diagnosis every blemish, mole, and discoloration has a deeper meaning. Pay attention, watch and listen to your body and it will let you know when your health condition changes from day to day.


http://www.care2.com/

Our America with Lisa Ling on OWN. I watched a documentary on a study of childhood obesity and it was heartbreaking!

Little Rock, AR. A four year old boy that weighs 101 pounds. He is so addicted to food that he cries and throws tantrums for more food. His mom wants to say no, but has a difficult time saying no because  it breaks her heart for her son to cry for food, even though she knows  for his health she should say no. At night this precious child sleeps with a mask to help him breathe because he has sleep apnea. The doctor said if this doesn't change by time he's twenty, he'll be 500 pounds!

Durant, MS. A twelve year old girl that weighs 347 pounds. She eats all the wrong things at home and at school. At home her mom prepare "soul food"...mac 'n cheese, potato salad, friend chicken,and more, and at school hot dogs, french fries, chocolate milk, etc. This sweet girl has been bullied and has been called vile names, which attacked her self-esteem. This child faces diabetes, CVD, which can cut her life short. She wants to know how she can weigh this much since she  is only a kid. I lost it at that point because she is absolutely right in wanting answers, but the answer is at home. This girl is morbidly obese. Her mom said she prepares food the way she was taught and doesn't know how to shop for or prepare healthy food. The only food she buys in the form of fresh vegetables is cabbage which she fries or boils so the nutrients are lost. I believe if someone taught the mom how to shop and to explains the perimeter of the grocery store, and the things to stay away from, change will happen because when you know better, you do better.

When you are morbidly obese you have the threat of:

1. type 2 diabetes
2. heart disease
3. hypertension
4. cancer
5. death 

This young girl will be a success story. She is determined to get the weight off and has started exercising. She went to her first dance and was beautiful! She has a long way to go and she will WIN her battle of obesity. She is doing it for herself!

The Cooking Channel's: The Food Hospital UK - An eighteen year old young lady, had to have gastric bypass surgery so she wouldn't die. She now knows what she can and cannot eat, and she is ready to lose weight and eat healthy.

All of these stories touched me in a very private way because I lost my brother due to complications or morbid obesity, and years ago I was obese.  Children eat what they are given, but as adults, we can make better choices. If this culture doesn't change, parents will bury their children instead of children burying parents.

If you want to get a glimpse of these stories view here http://bit.ly/UGlHTU

A big motivation for losing weight should be for health reasons.  You don’t have to be a health coach or a doctor to figure out that we are living in an overweight and obese nation.  We are suffering in epic proportions from diseases that our ancestors 100 years ago never had or even heard of. Convenience isn't always good when it comes to food.

• Are you aware of the effects that carrying excess weight can have on the body? This includes your joints, lower back, and your internal organs.

• Did you know that excess abdominal fat is the most dangerous type of fat to have?  This is because this is most active of them all. The fat is packed around your intestines, your liver and heart and interferes with the way those organs work.  This fat secretes chemicals and hormones that inhibit proper function of those vital organs.  It is also an indicator of Type II diabetes and heart disease.

For women if your waist is more than 35 inches at the belly button; and for men if is more than 40 inches, you are within the high risk category of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke. It is time to lose weight.

Excess fat in the body causes the arteries in your heart to become clogged which raises your blood pressure to force the blood to your organs.  Having just an extra 30 excess pounds forces your heart to work twice as hard to do the same job it did when you were just 30 pounds lighter.

Wheat belly doesn't have to be the battle of the bulge. Dr. William Davis, preventive cardiologist, who contends that today's wheat, called "Frankenwheat" by some practitioners, is the result of genetics manipulations designed to produce more wheat per acre.

The result, based on Dr. Davis' holistic nutrition studies: Eliminating"Frankenwheat" grains from the diet can result in dramatic weight loss, reduced risk of heart disease, improved mood, corrected cholesterol problems and even relief from arthritis.

Did you know that two slices of wheat bread equals six teaspoons of sugar? Do you know what "visceral fat" is and the effect it has on your body? Take a look at what visceral fat does to the body from The Doctors http://bit.ly/10mCG2l

Dr. Davis contends that wheat is not the "healthy whole grain" it was pretending to be. In reality it is a major contributor to the worse epidemic of obesity and an astounding list of health problems where hundreds of billions of dollars are spent every year for:

• hypertension
• high cholesterol
• obesity
• arthritis
• acid reflux
• irritable bowel syndrome
• fibromyalgia
• migraine headaches
• depression
• diabetes
• various forms of neurological impairment, and on and on.

Are you aware that the pharmaceutical industry funds a good part of the wheat lobby? Dr. Davis contends that we are, in effect, experiencing the consequences of a grand agricultural experiment gone sour.

Do you sometime feel you have so much hurt and anger that it is impossible to deal with no matter how hard you try to let go? Often there are many layers to deal with and it’s akin to an onion with layers to pull off.  You have to do it layer-by-layer because when we try to pull all of them off at the same time it can cause more pain. Just deal with them one-by-one and you will be successful.

There are seven layers of the healing soul that you must address to move forward:

•  Denial – You have to work through the DENIAL that hides the anger.

•  Anger – You have to work through the ANGER that hides the hurt.

•  Hurt – You have to work through the HURT that hides the loss.

•  Loss – You have to work through the LOSS that hides the betrayal of trust.

•  Betrayal Of Trust – You have to work through the BETRAYAL OF TRUST that hides the insecurity.

•  Insecurity – You have to work through the INSECURITY that hides the unwillingness to give up your own sense of control.

•  Unwillingness To Give Up Control – You have to work through the UNWILLINGNESS TO GIVE UP CONTROL and learn to daily surrender your life to God.

Make a commitment to take it one layer at a time. The only thing that can hold you back is FEAR and to defeat it you must Face Every Area Righteously!

Two amino acids that are especially useful for the brain are tryptophan and tyrosine. The affect neurotransmitters or (chemicals) within the brain, which in turn produce mood changes. Nuts and seeds are high in these amino acids.

Tryptophan: stimulates serotonin, the neurotransmitter that causes a sense of relaxation. Calms the nerves, great for stressful situations, and a great relaxer.

Nuts & Seeds High in Tryptophan:

•  Almonds

•  Pecans

•  Walnuts

•  Chestnuts

•  Sunflower

•  Pumpkin

Tyrosine: is great for increasing brain concentration. It triggers the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine, which are alertness chemicals. They assist the brain to think and react more quickly. Always keep nuts high in tyrosine in your car for driving especially for long distances.

Nuts High in Tyrosine:

•  Brazil

•  Cashew

•  Hazel

•  Macadamia

•  Pine

•  Pistachio

The body cannot properly use these two very important amino acids (that ward off depression) if you are dehydrated. All nuts and seeds are beautifying, anti-inflammatory, high in EFA’s, high in protein, anti-cancer, etc. All seeds are aphrodisiacs. Also all seeds help keep the teeth free from cavities, plaque and inflammation that lead to gingivitis, periodontal disease. They massage the gums when chewing them. Some are very high in B vitamins like sunflower; some are anti-parasitic and fungal like pumpkin.

•  Alfalfa tea aids digestion

•  Aniseed tea decongestant for nose and sinuses

•  Black currant tea stimulates taste buds

•  Burdock root tea helps sciatica and rheumatoid arthritis

•  Chicory tea normalizes liver function

•  Cinnamon tea clears the brain and improves thought processes

•  Cornsilk tea reduces pain of urinary infections

•  Dandelion tea improves liver function and kidney function

•  Fennel tea good for the pancreas

•  Fenugreek tea good for colds, clogged ears, and aching sinuses

•  Hawthorne berries tea is energizing to the elderly

Do you get curious when you see things that you know are not in season, and while some may be in season, do you know their origin. Remember that geography class in school…here we go!

•  Bananas: comes from Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras

•  Apples: 94% comes from the United States and the rest comes from Chile, New Zealand and Canada

•  Oranges: Most from the United States, but during the winter they can come from Africa and Australia

•  Dried beans, peas and lentils: United States and Mexico

•  Beef: 16% of beef is imported from Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand

•  Orange Juice: Brazil is the largest supplier

•  Apple Juice: leading suppliers are Argentina, Chile and China

•  Olive Oil: It may be labeled bottled in Italy, it actually comes from Spain, Greece, Tunisia and other Mediterranean countries

•  Canola Oil: comes from Canada

•  Tea: Sri Lanka, India, china, Japan and Kenya are the main tea providers

•  Wheat: 94% comes from the United States and the rest comes from Canada and Mexico

•  Apricots, Avocados, Grapes, Kiwi, Limes, Mangoes, Nectarines, Papayas, Peaches, Pineapples, Plums, Strawberries and Tangerines: United States, Mexico, Chile, Philippines and Thailand

•  Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers, Squash and Snap Beans: United States, Mexico, Canada and China

•  Sugar: 50% comes from the United States and the rest comes from Brazil, Caribbean countries and Australia

•  Coffee: primarily from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Guatemala

As you can see, our food comes from all over the world.  Food, the long way home.

Sources: FDA, USDA, U.S. Apple Commission, American Meat Institute, National Association of Wheat Growers, Tea Association of the U.S.A.