Anono

Is it possible for a single vitamin to do everything?

Maybe not — but if I had to pick one all-purpose must-have nutrient, I’d go with that dazzling D. It’s about as close to perfect as a single letter can be.

And now, two new studies add to the already impressive body of evidence for this wonder vitamin: It may help you control your blood pressure, and even lower your risk of dying from heart disease.

The first study, published in Nature Reviews Cardiology, finds that the sunshine vitamin is especially good at helping people who already have hypertension to lower their blood pressure levels.

The second one, carried out by researchers at the University of Colorado, Denver and Massachusetts General Hospital, found that patients who don’t get enough D are three times more likely to die from heart disease and 2.5 times more likely to die from any cause.

That fits in with other studies that have shown that vitamin D can help reduce your overall risk of death. And that’s in addition to research showing how D can help keep your bones healthy and lower your risk of fracture, reduce your risk of cancer, increase muscle strength, improve your immune system, and so much more.

The best source of D is the sun. Our bodies can make it naturally if we get enough of the right kind of sunlight.

But most of our bodies aren’t doing a very good job of it these days.

No, they’re not protesting the sweaty working conditions. We’re simply not getting enough sun — and when we do, it’s often not the right kind.

Your clothes, sunblock, cloud cover, and the seasonal angle of the Earth are all factors in the quality of your sunlight, and whether or not your body is able to turn it into that all- important D.

In most cases, it can’t… and as a result, we’re D-ficient. That means a high-quality supplement is your best chance of ensuring that you get enough of your daily D.

Forget the U.S. RDA, which badly understates how much you need of so many nutrients. Follow that pointless chart, and you’ll end up with 400 IUs daily. In reality, we need much more than that.

Even Harvard University — not exactly known for its acts of nutritional rebellion — places the optimal intake at around 2,000 IUs for most of us, and suggests that many people — including folks with darker skin and people who get little direct sunlight — can use up to 4,000 IUs daily.

That’s up to 10 times the U.S. government’s recommendation!

So if you’re not taking a D vitamin, check your multivitamin closely. If it says you’re getting “100 percent” of what you need, you’re simply not getting enough, and you probably want to add a separate D supplement to your regimen.

A lot of companies will try to sell you a miracle pill — but D is the real deal.
————————-

Lois

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee… You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about fifteen minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ‘ Tell me what you see.’

‘Carrots, eggs, and coffee,’ she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, ‘What does it mean, mother?’

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water.
Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

‘Which are you?’ she asked her daughter. ‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with
a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance
that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.

Live your life so at the end, you’re the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

If you don’t send it, you will just miss out on the opportunity to brighten someone’s day with this message!
May we all be COFFEE!!!!!!
++++++++++++++++

I tend to think that most women are coffee by necessity. We have to change the stuff around us or wilt under the constant pressure of existing in a world that men force upon us via some god or religion.

Evelyn