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Ten Healthy Foods

Introduction

Here are your best bets for eating well. These 10 foods are some of the healthiest because they meet at least three of the following criteria:

Are a good or excellent source of fiber, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients
Are high in phytonutrients and antioxidant compounds, such as vitamins A and E and beta carotene

May help reduce the risk of heart disease and other health conditions
Are low in calorie density, meaning you get a larger portion size with a fewer number of calories
Are readily available

Eat almonds - These tear-shaped nuts are packed with nutrients - fiber, riboflavin, magnesium, iron and calcium. In fact, almonds have more calcium than any other nut - 75 milligrams (mg) in one serving (about 23 almonds). Also, one serving of almonds provides half of your body’s Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamin E.

Like all nuts, almonds provide one of the best plant sources of protein. And they’re good for your heart. Most of the fat in almonds is monounsaturated fat - a healthier type of fat that may help lower blood cholesterol levels

Eat apples - Apples are an excellent source of pectin, a soluble fiber that can lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels. Fresh apples are also good sources of vitamin C - an antioxidant that protects your body’s cells from damage. Vitamin C also helps form the connective tissue collagen, keeps your capillaries and blood vessels healthy, and aids in the absorption of iron

Eat blueberries - Blueberries are a rich source of plant compounds (phytonutrients). As with cranberries, phytonutrients in blueberries may help prevent urinary tract infections. Blueberries may also improve short-term memory and promote healthy aging.

Blueberries are also a low-calorie source of fiber and vitamin C - 1 cup of fresh blueberries has 84 calories, 3.6 grams of fiber and 14 mg of vitamin C.

Eat broccoli - Besides being a good source of calcium, potassium, folate and fiber, broccoli contains phytonutrients - a group of compounds that may help prevent chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. Broccoli is also a good source of vitamins A and C - antioxidants that protect your body’s cells from damage.

Eat red beans - Red beans - including small red beans and dark red kidney beans - are good sources of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper and thiamin. They’re also an excellent low-fat, low-calorie source of protein and dietary fiber. Red beans also contain phytonutrients that may help prevent chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Eat salmon - Salmon is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids - a type of fat that makes your blood less likely to form clots that may cause heart attacks. Omega-3s may also protect against irregular heartbeats that may cause sudden cardiac death, decrease triglyceride levels, decrease the growth of artery-clogging plaques, lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke.

In addition to being an excellent source of omega-3s, salmon is low in saturated fat and cholesterol and is a good source of protein.

Eat spinach - Spinach is high in vitamins A and C and folate. It’s also a good source of riboflavin, vitamin B-6, calcium, iron and magnesium. The plant compounds in spinach may boost your immune system and may help keep your hair and skin healthy.

Eat sweet potatoes - The deep orange-yellow color of sweet potatoes tells you that they’re high in the antioxidant beta carotene. Food sources of beta carotene, which are converted to vitamin A in your body, may help slow the aging process and reduce the risk of some cancers. Sweet potatoes are also good sources of fiber, vitamins B-6, C and E, folate and potassium. And like all vegetables, they’re fat-free and relatively low in calories - one small sweet potato has just 54 calories.

Drink vegetable juice - Vegetable juice has most of the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients found in the original vegetables and is an easy way to include vegetables in your diet. Tomato juice and vegetable juices that include tomatoes are good sources of lycopene, an antioxidant that may reduce the risk of heart attack, prostate cancer and possibly other types of cancer. Some vegetable and tomato juices are very high in sodium, so be sure to select the low-sodium varieties.

Eat wheat germ - At the center of a grain of wheat is the wheat germ - the part of the seed that’s responsible for the development and growth of the new plant sprout. Though only a small part of the wheat seed, the germ is a highly concentrated source of nutrients, including niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin E, folate, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, iron and zinc. The germ also contains protein, fiber and some fat.

From:24/7 Health Club & Tanning Salon

481 Kelly Spring Road * Harvest, AL * 256-851-2473
920 Winchester Road * Huntsville, AL * 256-851-0574

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

Several studies suggest that cinnamon may have a regulatory effect on blood sugar, making it especially beneficial for people with Type 2 diabetes.

In some studies, cinnamon has shown an amazing ability to stop medication-resistant yeast infections.

In a study published by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Maryland, cinnamon reduced the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cancer cells.

It has an anti-clotting effect on the blood.

In a study at Copenhagen University, patients given half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder combined with one tablespoon of honey every morning before breakfast had significant relief in arthritis pain after one week and could walk without pain within one month.

When 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.

Researchers at Kansas State University found that cinnamon fights the E. coli bacteria in unpasteurized juices.

10. It is a great source of manganese, fiber, iron, and calcium.

Posted on http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/10-health-benefits-of-cinnamon.html

The Struggle Against Worldliness

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what
 the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2 NASB

We live in the world, but we should not worship it—yet at every turn, or so it seems, we are tempted to do otherwise. As Warren Wiersbe correctly observed, “Because the world is deceptive, it is dangerous.”
The 21st-century world we live in is a noisy, stress-filled, distracting place, a place that offers countless temptations and dangers. The world seems to cry, “Worship me with your time, your money, your energy, your thoughts, and your life!” But if we are wise, we won’t fall prey to that temptation.

C. S. Lewis said, “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in; aim at earth and you will get neither.” That’s good advice. You’re likely to hit what you aim at, so aim high . . . aim at heaven.
The Lord Jesus Christ is still praying for us. He wants us to be in the world but not of it.
Charles Stanley

Our fight is not against any physical enemy; it is against organizations and powers that are spiritual. We must struggle against sin all our lives, but we are assured we will win.
Corrie ten Boom

The more we stuff ourselves with material pleasures, the less we seem to appreciate life.
Barbara Johnson

All those who look to draw their satisfaction from the wells of the world—pleasure, popularity, position, possessions, politics, power, prestige, finances, family, friends, fame, fortune, career, children, church, clubs, sports, sex, success, recognition, reputation, religion, education, entertainment, exercise, honors, health, hobbies—will soon be thirsty again!
Anne Graham Lotz
Today’s Prayer
Lord, this world is a crazy place, and I have many opportunities to stray from Your commandments. Help me turn to obey You! Let me keep Christ in my heart, and let me put the devil in his place: far away from me! Amen

- Thanks Duane for emailing this!

The Health Benefits of Anchovies

You either love them or you have them. Anchovies are a polarizing fish. These salty, little morsels have a distinctive flavor that makes them popular as a pizza topping or as a tasty addition to a Greek salad. Anchovy paste is sometimes used to make the perenially popular Caesar salad dressing. Although these little fish aren’t much to look at and their taste benefits are debatable, they do have some surprising health properties. Here are some of the many health benefits of anchovies.

They’re Rich in Omega-3’s

Anchovies are a fatty fish which makes them an excellent source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3’s are becoming known for their anti-inflammatory effects as well as their ability to lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels. They’re also thought to reduce the risk of heart disease. These tiny fish pack real nutritional punch when it comes to heart health!

They’re Low in Mercury and Other Toxins

Many people are concerned about eating seafood due to the risk of contaminants such as mercury, PCB’s, and dioxanes. Because anchovies are a small fish with a short life span, they’re less likely to accumulate significant levels of mercury. In rare cases, anchovies can be a source of a toxin known as clupeotoxin which can cause serious neurological symptoms and even death. Other plankton-eating fish can also be a source of this toxin.

They’re High in Protein and Low in Calories

Anchovies are an excellent source of protein. Five anchovies have nine grams of protein and only fifty-five calories. Adding a few to a salad can make it more filling, so you’re less likely to overindulge on other foods. They’re also free of carbohydrates which make them a popular choice for the low carb dieter.

Vitamins and Minerals

Anchovies are a good source of calcium for building strong bones and reducing blood pressure. It’s also rich in selenium, a trace mineral which may play a role in cancer prevention. In terms of vitamins, they’re an excellent source of niacin, a B vitamin important for health of the nervous system, skin, and digestive tract.

Unfortunately, anchovies are also high in sodium and cholesterol which means they should be eaten in moderation, particularly if you have a history of hypertension, elevated cholesterol levels, or heart disease. Look for them in little glass jars and small metal tins on grocery store shelves.

From:http://www.xomba.com/health_benefits_anchovies

 You should want a good name more than you want great riches.
      To be highly respected is better than having silver or gold. 

By “thug”, I mean, not criminal,
someone that beats you.
I mean, the underdog.
The person that had nothing
and succeeds is a thug
because he overcame all obstacles.
It has nothing to do
with the dictionary’s version.
To me, thug is my pride, not being
someone that goes against the law,
not being someone that takes,
but being someone that has nothing,
and even though I have nothing and
no home to go to, my head is up high.
My chest is out. I walk tall.
I talk loud. I’m being strong.
I’m against racial, ethnic entitlements.
I think they are un-American.
I don’t understand why America
doesn’t get Thug Life.
America is Thug Life.
How is me saying,
“I don’t give a fuck,”
different than Patrick Henry saying,

“Give me liberty or give me death”?
What makes my freedom
less worth fighting for than Bosnians
or whoever they wanna
fight for this year?

Thug Life ain’t just a bunch
of niggas going crazy.
We wanna patrol our streets.

So all we saying is,
if every motherfucker out here
right now gave up one dollar
to this Thug Life fund,
the money don’t go to me,
it go to somebody
from y’all neighborhood,
and we do this shit every month.
I’ll bring new rappers,
‘ll bring Snoop,
whoever y’all want.
I’ll go snatch them niggas.
For that shit to happen,
we can’t have violence,
and everybody gotta be down
for that shit.

We gonna start slowly but surely
taking our communities back.
Regulate our community. Organize.
Start taking care of our own.
We gotta start somewhere, and I don’t
know about anything but this.

- What is the message, though?
- All the people you threw away,
the dope dealers, criminals, they
will be legit next to you in first class,
thanks to your boy.

The message is,
young black males could do anything
if you just give us a shot,
stop trying to beat us down.

And to my homeboys, we need to be in control of ourselves.
I’m not saying I’ll change the world,
but I guarantee I’ll spark
the brain that will change the world.
So keep your head up.
Do what you’ve gotta do.
And then inside of you,
I’ll be reborn

A successful business man was growing old and
Knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.

Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.

He said, ‘It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. ‘The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. ‘I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED.

 I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.’

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.

By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however.
He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.

Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.

He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful — in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back. ‘My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,’ said the CEO. ‘Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!’

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, ‘The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!’

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, ‘Behold your next Chief Executive Officer!

His name is Jim!’ Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow his seed.

‘How could he be the new CEO?’ the others said.

Then the CEO said, ‘One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!’

* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends

* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness

* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment

* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective

* If you plant hard work, you will reap success

* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

* If you plant faith in God, you will reap a harvest

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.   Author Unknown
 Thanks Anita!

The experience of spirtual power is basically a joyful one. There is a joy that comes with mastery Indeed, there is no greater satisfaction than that of being an expert, of really knowing what we are doing. Those who have grown the most spirtually are those who are experts in living. And there is yet another joy, even greater. It is the joy of communion with God. For when we truly know what we are doing, we are participating in the omniscience of God. With total awareness of the nature of a situation, of our motives for acting upon it, and of the results and ramifications of our action, we have attained that level of awareness that we normally expect only of GOD. We know with God.

Yet those who have attained this stage of spirtual growth, this state of great awareness, are invariably possessed by a joyful humility.Invariably when asked the source of their knowledge and power, the truly powerful will reply: “It is not my power. What little power I have is bout a minute expression of a far greater power. I am merely a conduit. It is not my power at all” .

I have said that humility is joyful. That is because,with their awareness of their connectedness to God, the truly powerful experience a diminution in their sense of self.”Let thy will, not be mine, be done. Make me your instrument,” is their only desire. Such a loss of self brings with it always a kind of calm ecstasy, not unlike the experience of being in love.

Aware of their intimate connectedness to God, they experience a surcease of loneliness. There is communion. Joyful though it is. the experience of spirtual power is also terrifying . For the greater one’s awareness, the more difficult it is to take action.

The greater our awareness, however, the more and more data we must assimilate and integrate into our decision- making. The more we know, the more complex decisions become. Yet the more and more we know, the more it begins possible to predict  just where the chips will fall.

If we assume responsibilty of attempting to predict accurately just where each chip will fall, we are likely to feel so overwhelmed by the complexity of the task as to sink into inaction. But, then, inaction is itself a form of action, and while doing nothing might be the best course of action under certain circumstances, in others it may be disastrous and destructive. So spiritual power is not simply awareness; it is the capacity to maintain one’s  ability to still make decsions with greater and great awareness.

And God-like power is the power to make decisions with total awareness. But unlike the popular notion of it, omniscience does not make decision- making easier; rather it becomes ever more difficult. The closer one comes to godhood, the more one feels sympathy for God. To participate in God’s omniscience is also to share His agony.

** This is taken from the Book “The Road Less Travelled” by M.SCOTT PECK M.D

“Evil people resist the awareness of their own condition. A mark of the spirtually advanced is their awareness of their own laziness.

An essential part of discipline is the development of an awareness of our responsibility and power of choice.

I have said that the ultimate goal of spirtual growth is for the individual to become as one with God. It is to know with God. It is for the individual to become totally, wholly God.

This is the meaning of our individual existence. We are born that we might become,as a conscious individual, a new life form of God. We will become God’s agent, his arms, so to speak, and therefore part of him. And insofar, as we might then through our conscious decisions be able to influence the world according to His will our lives themselves will become the agents of God’s grace, We ourselves will then have become one form of the grace of God, working on His behalf among mankind, creating love where love did not exist before, pulling our fellow creatures up to our own level of awareness, pushing the plane of human evolution forward.

Political power is the capacity to coerce others, overtly or covertly, to do one’s will. This capacity resides in a position, such as a kingship or presidency, or else in money. It does not reside in the person who occupies the position or posseses the money. Consequently political power is unrelated to goodness or wisdom. Very stupid people and very evil people have walked as Kings upon the earth.

Spirtual power, however, resides entirely within the individual and has nothing to do with the capacity to coerce others. People of great spirtual power may be wealthy and may upon occasion occupy political positions of leadership, but they are as likely to be poor and lacking in political authority. Then, what is the capacity of spirtual power if not the capacity to coerce? It is the capacity to make decisions woth maxium awareness. It is consciousness.

Most people most of the time make decisions with little awareness of what they are doing. They take action with little understanding of their own motives and without beginning to know the ramifications of their choices.

*This is taken from the Book “The Road Less Travelled” by M.SCOTT PECK M.D

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