Solar Eclipses' Influence on the Unconscious, by Simone Butler

March, 2015 marked a turbulent time in my life. I was struggling to find my footing in my business and casting about in vain for the topic of my next book. Plus, the loss of a treasured relationship had me unmoored. Thus began a two-year period of groping my way forward, trying to find my place in the world. This period was punctuated by Pisces eclipses in my eleventh house of goals, friendships and community.

Fast forward to February, 2017: I’ve (mostly) come to terms with the relationship loss, my new book will be out soon, and I’m about to embark on a major “rebranding.” Though I’m proud of my progress, there were points at which I felt I was sinking rather than swimming. Such is the nature of Pisces eclipses.

But eventually you reach a do-or-die point in this process – and that point is now. The mother of all Pisces eclipses sweeps in on Sunday to end the series with a bang. The Pisces New Moon solar eclipse (Feb. 26, 6:58 a.m. PST) is conjunct Neptune (Pisces’ ruling planet), with the South Node and Mercury nearby in Pisces. A major ending is upon us, to clear the way for a new beginning. Look to the house where the eclipse falls in your chart for clues to what this might mean for you. In what area of your life has it become undeniable that there’s no turning back? What is that final leap of faith you need to take to set things right for yourself, others – or the world at large?

Since Pisces rules both dreams and delusions, we need to get real about where we’re at, both individually and collectively. If you’ve been in denial, hoping to be rescued by those in charge, or failing to follow through on your dreams, it’s time to face the truth. Yes, it’s scary to cut your losses and/or stride bravely forward without an apparent safety net (believe me, I know!) but this eclipse demands change. Because it’s the last of a series, it represents the final death knell of something very old that’s been holding all of us back.

Yet in your haste to make a change, take care to not act rashly or in anger. When Mars gangs up with Uranus, as it does on the day of the eclipse, there’s a strong potential for breakthroughs or breakdowns. Jupiter’s opposition to Mars and Uranus ratchets up the tension. Not a good day to travel (especially by water) and arguments could spin out of control. Still, there is a transcendent element afoot that Leah Whitehorse captures in the latest issue of The Mountain Astrologer. She calls this eclipse at nine degrees Pisces a “collective baptism.” Because it evokes the Sabian Symbol of a jockey spurring his horse to victory, she advises that we surrender to the journey and “catch hold of the horse’s mane and ride the wave until we’re brought safely back to land, washed clean and sanctified by the great waters of life.”

No matter what happens around this eclipse, it’s an excellent time to tap into Piscean inspiration. One good way is through scrying, an ancient technique for receiving messages or visualizing what you’d like to create. Check out this Pisces New Moon ritual from my book, Astro Feng Shui: Making Magic in Your Home and Life.

Originally posted in Mooncircles Blog, by Dana Gerhardt.

More on this week's Inner Healers Radio show!

How to attract your Divine Life Partner through your Akashic Records, by Jennifer Longmore

You may use the terms soul mate or twin flame to be interchangeable with what I refer to as “divine life partner.”

The difference between soul mate/twin flame and divine life partner is that multiple people can fulfill the first role, whereas your divine life partner is the soul that you’ve built into your soul’s blueprint (your Akashic Record) to evolve with throughout your purpose-aligned life in partnership. That is, true partnership whereby you support each other’s growth, remind each other of your greatness and commit to being together for life to facilitate that with love, truth and integrity.

I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t want this after conducting over 30,000+ Akashic Readings, and since it is one of the top 3 questions I’m asked by folks I read for, I thought you’d enjoy learning how the Records can help you attract and maintain this type of divine relationship with ease, joy and flow.

Here is how the Akashic Records can help you create this for yourself:

1. You receive divine guidance from your ascended masters/teachers/guides on what can be released physically, emotionally, mentally and/or spiritually to be a vibrational match for what you’re calling in.

2. You receive healing and energy shifting from this lifetime and any other space/time that would interfere with calling this love in.

3. You receive crystal clarity about whether someone is (or has the capacity to become) your divine life partner, along with guidance on how to expand the relationship to support your highest good and healing.

4. You receive practical steps for how to cultivate this love on a day-to-day basis in a way that is aligned to both of your paths and the consciousness of the relationship.

5. You can instantly shift the consciousness of the relationship to align to what you choose as a couple. Just as your body, your money, and your soul have it’s own consciousness, so does any relationship that you’re in, including your divine life partnership!

6. You clear out any vows, hooks, chords, soul contracts and other energies beyond your present understanding that may be interfering with your ability to create this.

7. You receive energy activations to be a vibrational match to call this to yourself with ease and joy.

8. Just by being in the energy of your Records, you are fully connecting with the energy of your soul and all of the things that your soul desires for growth, mastery and teaching.

There are a plethora of ways that the Akashic Records can support you in any area of your life, which is why I believe that it’s truly the only transformational tool that you’ll ever need!

Join Luciana and I for an interview on Inner Healers Radio!

Channeling with Consciousness, by Shelly Dressel

Channeling is something that people do every day in their lives…… they just are unaware!  When someone channels, they are communicating from one person/ energy to another.  We as the human who is consciously opening to this becomes the conduit.  Have you ever heard people say ‘I was channeling my inner skeptic or creative or business sense’?  What this means is that people will tune inside of themselves looking for answers.  You can also create an alignment and speak with your angels, guides, loved ones, animals or anything that has a consciousness.
 

So why would someone want to open to channel?  They would be seeking a deeper connection within themselves that will enhance the rest of their life.  They might be seeking to create or enhance their business. 

These are some of the benefits of Channeling:

1) You feel good ~ When you have a deeper alignment with your divinity and the flow is easier, you feel good in your daily life.

2) You can change your vibration ~ Your thoughts create your reality. Your emotions are the expression of your reality. So behind it all, what is your reality?

3) You can learn to speak directly with Angels, Guides, Animal Totems and many others, including a more open alignment to those who've crossed over.

4) The foundation for the 5th Dimension and higher is living through your heart, using meditation you can open and focus your intention.

The potentials for why are limitless. The choice to open begins with you.

On 2/20 Luciana and Shelly will be doing an Inner Healers Radio interview, tune in to find more about channeling and its benefits for your wellbeing! 👉🏻  http://tobtr.com/9827473

Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness Are the Keys to Understanding the Nature of the Universe

A book titled “Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness Are the Keys to Understanding the Nature of the Universe” has stirred up the Internet, because it contained a notion that life does not end when the body dies, and it can last forever.

The author of this publication, scientist Dr. Robert Lanza who was voted the 3rd most important scientist alive by the NY Times, has no doubts that this is possible.

1. BEYOND TIME AND SPACE

Lanza is an expert in regenerative medicine and scientific director of Advanced Cell Technology Company. Before he has been known for his extensive research which dealt with stem cells, he was also famous for several successful experiments on cloning endangered animal species.

But not so long ago, the scientist became involved with physics, quantum mechanics and astrophysics. This explosive mixture has given birth to the new theory of biocentrism, which the professor has been preaching ever since. Biocentrism teaches that life and consciousness are fundamental to the universe. It is consciousness that creates the material universe, not the other way around.

Lanza points to the structure of the universe itself, and that the laws, forces, and constants of the universe appear to be fine-tuned for life, implying intelligence existed prior to matter. He also claims that space and time are not objects or things, but rather tools of our animal understanding. Lanza says that we carry space and time around with us “like turtles with shells.” meaning that when the shell comes off (space and time), we still exist.

The theory implies that death of consciousness simply does not exist. It only exists as a thought because people identify themselves with their body. They believe that the body is going to perish, sooner or later, thinking their consciousness will disappear too. If the body generates consciousness, then consciousness dies when the body dies. But if the body receives consciousness in the same way that a cable box receives satellite signals, then of course consciousness does not end at the death of the physical vehicle. In fact, consciousness exists outside of constraints of time and space. It is able to be anywhere: in the human body and outside of it. In other words, it is non-local in the same sense that quantum objects are non-local.

Lanza also believes that multiple universes can exist simultaneously. In one universe, the body can be dead. And in another it continues to exist, absorbing consciousness which migrated into this universe. This means that a dead person while traveling through the same tunnel ends up not in hell or in heaven, but in a similar world he or she once inhabited, but this time alive. And so on, infinitely. It’s almost like a cosmic Russian doll afterlife effect.

2. MULTIPLE WORLDS

This hope-instilling, but extremely controversial theory by Lanza has many unwitting supporters, not just mere mortals who want to live forever, but also some well-known scientists. These are the physicists and astrophysicists who tend to agree with existence of parallel worlds and who suggest the possibility of multiple universes. Multiverse (multi-universe) is a so-called scientific concept, which they defend. They believe that no physical laws exist which would prohibit the existence of parallel worlds.

The first one was a science fiction writer H.G. Wells who proclaimed in 1895 in his story “The Door in the Wall”. And after 62 years, this idea was developed by Dr. Hugh Everett in his graduate thesis at the Princeton University. It basically posits that at any given moment the universe divides into countless similar instances. And the next moment, these “newborn” universes split in a similar fashion. In some of these worlds you may be present: reading this article in one universe, or watching TV in another.

The triggering factor for these multiplyingworlds is our actions, explained Everett. If we make some choices, instantly one universe splits into two with different versions of outcomes.

In the 1980s, Andrei Linde, scientist from the Lebedev’s Institute of physics, developed the theory of multiple universes. He is now a professor at Stanford University. Linde explained: Space consists of many inflating spheres, which give rise to similar spheres, and those, in turn, produce spheres in even greater numbers, and so on to infinity. In the universe, they are spaced apart. They are not aware of each other’s existence. But they represent parts of the same physical universe.

The fact that our universe is not alone is supported by data received from the Planck space telescope. Using the data, scientists have created the most accurate map of the microwave background, the so-called cosmic relic background radiation, which has remained since the inception of our universe. They also found that the universe has a lot of dark recesses represented by some holes and extensive gaps.

Theoretical physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton from the North Carolina University with her colleagues argue: the anomalies of the microwave background exist due to the fact that our universe is influenced by other universes existing nearby. And holes and gaps are a direct result of attacks on us by neighboring universes.

3. SOUL

So, there is abundance of places or other universes where our soul could migrate after death, according to the theory of neo-biocentrism. But does the soul exist? Is there any scientific theory of consciousness that could accommodate such a claim? According to Dr. Stuart Hameroff, a near-death experience happens when the quantum information that inhabits the nervous system leaves the body and dissipates into the universe. Contrary to materialistic accounts of consciousness, Dr. Hameroff offers an alternative explanation of consciousness that can perhaps appeal to both the rational scientific mind and personal intuitions.

Consciousness resides, according to Stuart and British physicist Sir Roger Penrose, in the microtubules of the brain cells, which are the primary sites of quantum processing. Upon death, this information is released from your body, meaning that your consciousness goes with it. They have argued that our experience of consciousness is the result of quantum gravity effects in these microtubules, a theory which they dubbed orchestrated objective reduction (Orch-OR).

Consciousness, or at least proto-consciousness is theorized by them to be a fundamental property of the universe, present even at the first moment of the universe during the Big Bang. “In one such scheme proto-conscious experience is a basic property of physical reality accessible to a quantum process associated with brain activity.”

Our souls are in fact constructed from the very fabric of the universe – and may have existed since the beginning of time. Our brains are just receivers and amplifiers for the proto-consciousness that is intrinsic to the fabric of space-time. So is there really a part of your consciousness that is non-material and will live on after the death of your physical body?

Dr Hameroff told the Science Channel’s Through the Wormhole documentary: “Let’s say the heart stops beating, the blood stops flowing, the microtubules lose their quantum state. The quantum information within the microtubules is not destroyed, it can’t be destroyed, it just distributes and dissipates to the universe at large”. Robert Lanza would add here that not only does it exist in the universe, it exists perhaps in another universe. If the patient is resuscitated, revived, this quantum information can go back into the microtubules and the patient says “I had a near death experience”

He adds: “If they’re not revived, and the patient dies, it’s possible that this quantum information can exist outside the body, perhaps indefinitely, as a soul.”

This account of quantum consciousness explains things like near-death experiences, astral projection, out of body experiences, and even reincarnation without needing to appeal to religious ideology. The energy of your consciousness potentially gets recycled back into a different body at some point, and in the mean time it exists outside of the physical body on some other level of reality, and possibly in another universe.

Source: Simple Capacity.

The Road Ahead & The Indigenous Heart, by Kedar S. Brown

"It is no longer enough to simply focus on healing the emotional wounds of the past; finding your passion in life and following your 'bliss'. We live in a world that is crying out for the gift of medicine that you alone carry, a gift that you came here to deliver. We must shift our healing methods from a pathology-focused paradigm toward a community-based, eco-spiritual "Response-Ability" focus, utilizing the ancestral wisdom and ritual methodologies of the past with our eyes turned toward the generations that are to follow. Our great-grandchildren are watching to see how we live our lives so they will know what to do whey they get here. My prayer is that we all become ancestors our great-grandchildren will be proud of." ~Kedar S. Brown, M.Ed., LPC, NCC, CHY, LCAS.

Join our Inner Healers Radio LIVE this 2/22 12h00 PET or On Demand as a recorded podcast while Luciana interviews Kedar about his upcoming retreat --> http://tobtr.com/s/9826953

Do relationships make us healthier and happier? by Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D.

Source: Syda Productions/Shutterstock

Satisfying relationships not only make us happy, they also influence our long-term health as much as getting enough sleep, eating healthy, and not smoking. Many research studies have shown that satisfying relationships are associated with better health, greater happiness, and even a longer life. This effect is not limited to romantic relationships -close friendships and social connections with family and members of your community can also help your health.

Does relationship quality make a difference?

"While the number of social ties makes a difference, quality also counts."

In one study, midlife women who were more satisfied with their marriages had a lower risk for cardiovascular disease. Conversely, toxic relationships with family and friends can stress us out and damage our health. In studies of marital conflict, hostile interactions with a spouse are associated with signs of impaired immunity and with increases in stress hormones. Other studies show that midlife women in unsatisfying marriages, have higher blood pressure, higher cholesterol, and higher body mass indexes than those in satisfying marriages. They also have higher levels of depression, anxiety, and anger. The researchers noted that these physical and emotional states raise the risk of heart disease -- and each can be exacerbated by stress.

Do partners motivate us to live healthier?

Being in a supportive relationship can also motivate us to live healthier. Studies show social support is related to eating more vegetables, exercising, and stopping smoking. Being around healthier people can be an incentive to take better care of our own health.  Or perhaps we may enjoy exercising with friends or partners. Spouses may buy and cook healthy foods for us or we may be motivated to get fitter so as to be more attractive to our partners. 

There is a difference between encouragement and being too controlling, however. One study compared partner support (aiding and reinforcing a partner’s own efforts) with partner control behaviors (inducing change in one’s partner). Results showed that supportive behaviors predicted better mental health, while control behaviors predicted worse mental health and less healthy behaviors. Trying to control others may make them angry and create resistance to change. Research shows that we are more likely to maintain healthy behaviors if we are motivated by intrinsic factors (like wanting to be fitter), rather than extrinsic factors like placating a partner.

Does social support lessen your body's stress response?

Social support has also been shown to reduce the biological stress response.  In studies in which people are subjected to social stress in the form of public speaking with evaluation, those who had a close friend or family member present showed less cardiovascular arousal and/or faster cardiac recovery from stress. Patting a pet can also lower your blood pressure. Social support (whether from humans or animals) may make us more resilient to stress by lessening the body's biological stress response. Findings from animal studies show that social support reduces the release of cortisol (the stress hormone) when faced with a stressor.

What about depression?

For people at risk for depression, supportive relationships can be a protective factor. In studies, better social support predicted less depression in people with cardiac disease and heart attack patients. Patients with more support are more likely to cope actively with their health issues, for example, by making lifestyle changes. Supportive relationships also help our mental health.  This effect has been shown in many populations, including college students, unemployed spouses, and parents of medically ill children.

How do relationships impact your health?

How does social support impact our health? It seems there are biological, behavioral, and emotional pathways. Partners and friends or family can encourage us by listening, showing that they care, helping our self esteem, motivating us to be healthy, or distracting us from our stressors. On the other hand, criticism and ongoing unresolved conflict can make us feel more stressed and take energy away from managing our problems.

Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D., is a practicing psychologist in Mill Valley, California, and former Professor of Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology. She is an expert on stress, the brain, and mindfulness. She provides workshops, speaking engagements, and psychotherapy for individuals and couples. She regularly appears on radio shows and as an expert in national media. She also does long-distance coaching via the internet. Her new book, The Stress-Proof Brain is now available for presale (due out February 1).

Originally posted on the blog Pychology Today

References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16330726 

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/101/16/1919

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12954435

Insights into Jōshin Kokyū Hō, by Frans Stiene.

Within Mikao Usui's teachings we find a meditation technique called jōshin kokyū hō. Jōshin kokyū hō is an essential meditation practice which is practised throughout all levels of the system of Reiki, and therefore can be practised for the rest of our lives.

But what is jōshin kokyū hō all about?

Translation

Let’s first look at the kanji of jōshin kokyū hō.

淨 jō means clear, pure, without taint or defilement, lucid

心 shin means heart, mind, essence, the mind as the principle of the universe, the enlightened mind

呼吸 kokyū means to exhale and inhale, breathing

法 hō means method, dharma, principle

We therefore can translate jōshin kokyū hō in this way:

*The principle of pure mind-heart through breathing in and out

*The method realizing our enlightened mind though breathing in and out

Thus when we practice jōshin kokyū hō on a daily basis for many years, we start to realize the principle that our mind-heart is as pure as the universe.

According to a Japanese Aikdo practitioner, kokyū hō also means "work in perfect harmony."

We thus also can say that jōshin kokyū hō translates as "The principle of pure mind-heart through working in perfect harmony with the universe."

The practice

1. Sit and gassho.

2. Place your hands in your lap, palms facing upwards.

3. With each in breath, feel a bright energy coming in through the nose and bring it down to the hara/tanden, just below your navel. When you do this, link the visual with the breath and the mind.

4. Feel the bright energy, the breath and the mind expanding through your body.

5. On the out breath, expand the bright energy, the breath and the mind out of the body, through your skin, out into infinity.

6. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until finished.

Most important is that the mind is brought to the hara/tanden and that the mind expands through your body and into infinity. Visualising the bright light and following the breath are an aid for this.

The practice of jōshin kokyū hō also resembles specific visualisation meditation practices within Japanese esoteric Buddhism, such as the expansion visualisations (Jap: kakudai-ho), permeation visualisations (Jap: shinto-ho) and specific moon-disk visualisations (Jap: gachirin-kan).

Insights

The in-breath into the nose and bringing the mind to the hara/tanden is the first step of the practice. This is an important step as it helps us to bring our mind back into our body and under control, so that we do not get distracted by past, present and future. And as the hara/tanden is just below the navel it helps us to centre and ground ourselves. But it is just the first step. If our mind stops at the hara/tanden we are missing the point of jōshin kokyū hō as jōshin kokyū hō is so much more! It goes far beyond simply grounding ourselves.

Zen master Takuan Soho describes very clearly in his book "The Unfettered Mind" why it is important not to stop at the hara/tanden:

"You should not place your mind within yourself. Bracing the mind in the body is something done only at the inception of training, when one is a beginner."

"But viewed from the highest standpoint of Buddhism, putting your mind just below the navel and not allowing it to wander is a low level of understanding, not a high one. It is at the level of discipline and training."

From a traditional meditation practice perspective, we can say that breathing into the hara and resting the mind there for a moment is a Shamatha (resting our mind on a single object) meditation practice. And expanding the mind out and leaving it wide open is a Vipashyana (clearly seeing that there is no "I") meditation practice. Combining both practices is a classical way of deeper teachings in Buddhism.

In his book, “Luminous Clarity: A Commentary on Karma Chagme’s Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen,” Khenchen Thrangu writes about some of these teachings and the benefit of combining these practices:

"However, if Vipashyana is cultivated without the accompanying cultivation of Shamatha, then that Vipashyana meditation becomes like a small boat that drifts in the stormy sea of our controlled mind.”

“It is only through cultivating Vipashyana properly endowed with Shamatha meditation that we can conquer the disturbing emotions."

Yes, it is important to rest our mind at the hara/tanden for grounding and centring, especially for a beginner. But within Mikao Usui's style of jōshin kokyū hō, you focus on the hara/tanden and expand the mind out into infinity. Bringing the mind to the hara/tanden is the foundation for expanding our mind into infinity.

In fact by naming it jōshin kokyū hō, Mikao Usui also is pointing why not to stop at the hara/tanden.

Koichi Tohei describes kokyū in his book "Aikido, The Coordination of Mind and Body for Self-Defence" as: "Kokyu is, in plain words, the movement of your Ki or the movement of your body following Ki. If you have strong Kokyu, your body is filled with powerful Ki…"

According to Koichi Tohei, kokyū is the movement of your Ki. And if this movement of Ki is strong, your whole body is filled with powerful Ki. Hence the expansion of the mind through your whole body during jōshin kokyū hō. If we only rest our mind on the hara/tanden then our mind and energy will be stuck in one place. This is good for a beginner but if we want to go deeper, we need to expand it into infinity. The Ki needs to move through your body and not be stuck in one place.

Why do we need to expand our mind out into infinity? Because we need to realize that our mind is pure like the universe. The universe is infinite; there is no beginning or end. Thus through the daily practice of jōshin kokyū hō we start to slowly realize the principle that our mind is infinite like the universe. The universe doesn't stop at one point; it is infinitely open and expanded.

But this direct experience needs to be based on the hara/tanden; it is our starting point. If we do not expand from the hara/tanden, we will have a very hard time realizing this unification. Thus by connecting to the hara/tanden and expanding outwards into infinity, Mikao Usui killed two birds with one stone - grounding- centring and expanding into infinity. Realizing that our mind is always expanded like infinite space, the mind will not stop at one spot, it is just open. Hence the word open-mindedness; when we are open-minded we can accommodate everything and everyone. If our mind is stuck in one spot, we become narrow-minded and therefore have difficulty accommodating everything and everyone.

Zen master Takuan Soho points out in his book "The Unfettered Mind" why it is so important to expand the mind into infinity and not to focus on one point.

"Considering that the Thousand-Armed Kannon has one thousand arms on its one body, if the mind stops at the one holding a bow, the other nine hundred and ninety-nine will be useless. It is because the mind is not detained at one place that all the arms are useful."

"...the mind that does not stop at all is called immovable wisdom."

When our mind is not stopped at the hara/tanden but flows into infinite space, we are in a state of mind of immovable wisdom. This immovable wisdom doesn't mean our mind is focused on one spot, because if we focus on one spot we can get distracted and have to bring our mind back to this one spot again and again. Thus our mind is constantly moving from being distracted to bringing it back to one spot. Immovable wisdom is where our mind is wide open, and there is nothing to grasp in this wide open space. Thus the mind is not moved by anything; hence, immovable wisdom. Thoughts come and go but as there is no grasping in this open space, they will dissolve all by themselves. No need to bring the mind back to anything, no need to do anything...just to be.

Even in other Buddhist teachings, they instruct us to do the same. Orgyen Chowang writes in his book; "The Pristine Mind", "Do not make the scope of your meditation too narrow. Do not try to force your mind or your visual focus to stay in one spot or in one particular place."

Orgyen Chowang explains this further: "If our meditation involves focusing on a single object, as in mindfulness meditation, then noises or other external distractions can take us away from that focus. But when our mind is not focused on any particular thing, then that noise just passes through our awareness without interrupting our meditation at all. When we try to hold our mind on one point by focusing on a particular object in meditation, then our awareness is not expansive but is listed to that one object. But when we are remaining in Pristine Mind and not holding our attention to any particular object, our awareness permeates the entire space we are in. All sound just passes through our awareness. After a certain point, when we are remaining in Pristine mind, sensory inputs from the external world do not affect us."

Mikao Usui also pointed this out by teaching the mantra hon sha ze sho nen in Okuden Reiki Level II. Hon sha ze sho nen literally translates as, "My original nature is a non dual thought" but it also stands for "My original nature is Right Mind"

Zen master Takuan Soho describes what Right Mind is: "The Right Mind is the mind that does not remain in one place. It is the mind that stretches throughout the entire universe."

He also states that "When the Right Mind congeals and settles in one place it becomes what is called the confused mind."

A student of Mikao Usui wrote this: "Human consciousness can go anywhere in the universe in an instant. You must endeavor to develop your consciousness quickly and not to rely on the symbols for too long.” This is very similar to what Takuan Soho is pointing out.

Hon sha ze sho nen and jōshin kokyū hō are two different practices/paths to the same state of mind, a mind which is grounded and centred yet infinitely open and expanded. In this state, our mind can realize its non-dual nature. Or in other words, jōshin kokyū hō is about the realization that I am the universe and the universe is me.

"A calm mind not tied to anything lets authentic wisdom appear" -Taisen Deshimaru

Thus as we can see, jōshin kokyū hō's deeper insight is that by practicing it on a daily basis, we can settle our mind from all our confused thoughts. When we do this, our mind can stretch and realize its oneness with the infinite universe so that authentic wisdom appears.

The Five Levels of Attachment, by don Miguel Ruiz jr.

The following excerpt from The Five Levels of Attachment: Toltec Wisdom for the Modern World, by don Miguel Ruiz jr., explains the levels of attachment in greater detail.

The Soccer Game

Please allow me to explain the 5 Levels of Attachment using the analogy of soccer (or football, as it is known almost everywhere outside the United States). You don’t actually have to like soccer or even sports in general to get this analogy. In fact, you might even discover that not liking sports enhances your understanding of the concept.

On the other hand, you might see an accurate reflection of your own level of attachment to a game or a team or recognize these examples in the people around you. Remember, you can apply the meaning behind this analogy to any situation you have in your life.

Level One: The Authentic Self

Imagine that you like soccer, and you are sitting in a soccer stadium watching a game. It could be a magnificent stadium or a dirt-filled field. The players could be great or mediocre. You are not rooting for or against a side. It doesn’t matter who is playing. You simply enjoy watching the game for what it is. The players could even be kicking around a tin can, and you would still enjoy the ups and downs of the sport! The moment the referee blows the whistle that ends the game—win or lose—you leave the game behind. You walk out of the stadium and continue on with your life.

At Level One, you are pure conciousness, and you enjoy a moment in time without any real attachment. You invested just enough of yourself to choose to watch the game. You experienced the purest form of joy, stemming from your pure desire to experience life without conditions.

Level Two: Preference

This time, you attend a game—again, at any stadium in the world, with any teams playing—but now you choose to root for one of the teams. You’ve realized that if you invest a little more of yourself by identifying a preference, the emotional roller coaster makes the game more exciting. You could decide which team to root for based on just about anything—from the color of the uniforms to the names of the players. Perhaps you simply pick the home team. You spend the game rooting for one team, but not necessarily against the other. And when the game is over, just like at level one, you walk out of the stadium and leave it all behind you. At this level, you’ve invested a small piece of yourself in the game for a brief moment in time. You formed an attachment to something, however arbitrary, and based your decisions and actions on that attachment. You have engaged in a preference for a team, but only for the period of the game.

You created a story of victory or defeat that shaped the experience, but the story had nothing to do with you personally, because the story was about the team. You engaged with the event and the people around you, but at the end of the game, you simply say, “That was fun,” and let go of the attachment. This ability to attach and detach easily allows you to invest an emotional side of yourself that will enjoy the ups and downs of a great game.

Life is happening, and you are able to share it with those around you, regardless of how they see themselves.

Level Three: Identity

This time, you go to see a game, but you are now a committed fan of a particular team. Their colors strike an emotional chord inside of you. When the referee blows the whistle, the result of the game affects you on an emotional level. This is your favorite team. You can still go to any stadium or field in the world, but nothing compares to seeing this team play. Your team, winning or losing, partially defines your character beyond the ninety minutes of the game. You feel elated when your team wins; when your team loses, you feel disappointed. But still, your team’s performance is not a condition of your own self-acceptance. And if your team loses, you’re able to accept the defeat as you congratulate the other side. You accept the victories and disappointments as part of the emotional roller coaster that makes life interesting, but your self-worth is not based on these outcomes. If you meet a fan of the opposing team, you see not only a fan of soccer but also a fellow human being with whom you are willing to share a beer. You can sit together and discuss soccer and you can talk about how great you think your team is. You might even admit that you think their team is great as well. Your feelings and opinions surrounding your team are not a condition by which you relate to other or to yourself.

But it as at level three that your attachment to your team begins to impact your personal life outside the stadium gates, as you now relate to the world as a “fan.” The separation isn’t quite as clear as it was at first. At Level Three, this culture, this team, has become a small part of your identity. When the event or moment passes, it still forms who you think you are. You take the knowledge with you and begin to shape parts of your life around this team, bringing it to other environments that have nothing to do with it. For example, if your team loses, you might have a bad day at work, argue with someone about what or who is responsible for the team losing, or feel sad long after the game is over, despite the other good things going on around you.

No matter what the effect is, you’ve let an attachment change your persona. Your attachment bleeds into a world that has nothing to do with it.

 Level Four: Internalization

At Level Four, your association with your favorite team has now become an intrinsic part of your identity. The story of victory and defeat is now about you. Your team’s performance affects your self-worth and your own self-acceptance. When reading the stats, you admonish players for making us look bad. If the opponent team wins, you get angry that they beat you. You feel disconsolate when your team loses, and may even create excuses for the defeat. Of course you would never sit down with a fan of an opponent in a pub for a friendly chat! You might even find yourself consumed with finding out more information about the players. On the other hand, each and every word of praise your team earns feels as though it is directed at you. Not only have you brought the game home, you have completely incorporated it into your persona, shaping your identity by your belief of what it means to be a “real fan.”

Although in reality this team has nothing to do with who you really are, your self-importance and self-acceptance correlates with your attachment. The difference between your real life and your attachment are so blurred that everything starts to revolve around this team. With a Level Four attachment, you begin demanding ceratin behaviours of fellow fans based on your interpretation and definition of what it means to be a real fan. And if others don’t live up to your standards, you insist they should either change or depart. Furthermore, you will raise the subject of soccer with others and argue that your team is the best. You automatically believe that anyone who doesn’t agree with you is wrong. This is the point where the belief has moved from an identity to internalization. When dealing with the fans of opposing teams, you will argue and shout, but it will stop short of fisticuffs. You can still limit your defense to just arguing. While you may allow some friends in your life who are not soccer fans, you much prefer the company of those who think like you. As your attachment grows, you might make your loyalty to this team a condition by which you allow others to be in a relationship with you, including yourself.

In other words, you have internalized your attachment to such an extent that it has become a condition of self-acceptance. Thus, you begin to impose this image onto the people you love as well as the people you interact with in your everyday life.

Level Five: Fanaticism

At Level Five, you worship your team! Your blood bleeds their colors! If you see an opposing team’s fan, they are automatically your enemy, because this shield must be defended! This is your land, and others must be subjugated so that they, too, can see that your team is the real team; others are just frauds. What happens on the field says everything about you. Winning championships makes you a better person, and there is always a conspiracy theory that allows you to never accept a loss as legitimate.

There is no longer a separation between you and your attachment of any kind. You are committed to your team through and through, a fan 365 days a year. Your insist that your family must also be fans of your team. If any of your kids become a fan of an opposing team, you will disinherit them.

At Level Five, your family can easily be torn apart and destroyed if any one of you turns your back on the team. Relationships mean nothing to you unless they are a believer in your team. Every action you take, every decision you make, is within the rules by which you think make a great fan. Of course, you can’t see anything from the point of view of someone who does not share your love of your team. If you do, you would be considered a traitor by your own standards.

At Levels Three and Four you may still have friends who do not like soccer, but at Level Five you don’t waste your time with people who don’t love the sport. They do not know better. You choose not to have them in your life, and you are willing to fight for what you believe in. Your belief becomes more important than the experience.

As your attachment grows, it can reach a culminating point where respect is lost even for humanity. In your eyes, a true fan is willing to die and kill for his team. It doesn’t even matter if the referee blows the whistle to start or end the game. It doesn’t even matter if they play soccer. The symbol and the colors are more important than your own life or anyone else’s life.

If you are having difficulty relating to the sports analogy at this level of attachment, let me conclude with two real-life examples. At the end of one soccer season in Europe, a big name club was relegated into the second division, a lesser division. After witnessing that team’s final loss, a fan went home and hung himself. For him, life was no longer worth living if his team wasn’t in the Premier League. In another instance, a bus driver was a fan of a team that lost the Champions League final. He was so upset by this that he drove his bus into a group of people wearing the winning team’s jersey. Four people died for wearing the “wrong” colors. This man’s attachment to his team was so great he killed for it.

Fortunately, murder and suicide due to a favorite team’s loss are rare occurrences. But when we turn to topics such as religion, politics, or our ideas about money, sex, and power, the examples of attachment at this level are numerous. Turn on any news station and it’s easy to see confirmation of this. It’s important to realize that when we, or anyone else, become attached to a set of beliefs at this level, it is easy not to see the humanity of an individual since we can only see the personalization of an idea that we stand against.

At Level One, you can go to any church, synagogue, temple, mosque, or drum circle, and you will find and feel the love and grace of God. At Level Five, God just happens to be the focus of devotion that the religion is centered on; in other words, the religion is more important than God. Apply the levels to race or ethnicity or sexual orientation. Apply it to love. The Five Levels of Attachment can be applied to any form of information, and suddenly the consequences become far less trivial.

While this soccer analogy is a good introduction to the Five Levels of Attachment because it breaks down the concept into fairly understandable parts, the purpose is for you to see how the levels play out in your own life situations, and what you can do to let go of your attachments. As I explain the levels in detail in my book, The Five Levels of Attachment, you will begin to think about how attached you are to your various beliefs. You will learn how to assess what level you are on for every belief that you have—not as a basis for judgment, but rather to perceive a deeper understanding of self. The goal is to shift your perspective and see the potential that is present beyond your beliefs, and notice how your understanding of love and respect changes as your attachments’ hold on you diminishes.

More information about the book and where to order, here: http://www.hierophantpublishing.com/five-levels-of-attachment-by-don-miguel-ruiz-jr/

Moringa benefits

Benefits of continuous intake of  Moringa Tea:

1. Increases the Natural Defenses of the body

2. Provides nourishment to the eyes and the brain.

3. Promotes metabolism with bio-available ingredients

4. Promotes the Cell structure of the body

5. Promotes natural Serum cholesterol.

6. Lowers the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines.

7. Promotes the normal functioning of the liver and the kidney.

8. Beautifies the skin

9. Promotes energy

10. Promotes proper digestion

11. Acts as an antioxidant

12. Takes care of the immune system of the body

13. Promotes healthy circulatory system

14. It is an anti-inflammatory

15. Gives a feeling of general wellness

16. Supports the normal sugar levels of the body.

Moringa leaf boosts your energy in a natural manner, and is a remarkable source of nutrition. This energy promotion does not happen because of sugar, so it is lasts for a long time. Individuals ingesting it say that their ulcers are healed, tumors restricted, there are reduction in the arthritis pains and inflammations, controlled blood pressure, the skin problems are restored, and finally they have stronger defenses against diseases.

Another property of the Moringa leaf is its soothing ability, because of which it can lower the blood pressure and promotes good sleep. It can also purify water since it has a detoxifying effect. Also a coagulant agent, Moringa can attach itself to hazardous bacteria and other materials, a process that is surmised to occur in the body too. The happy outcome is more sustained energy without any over-activity, balanced hormone and gland system, controlled blood pressure, and a rested nervous system.

The Bridge to Better Health is through Better Nutrition

You cannot have good health if you do not consume food that is nutritional.   How does nutrition, with its vitamins, minerals and other nutritional compounds promote a healthier lifestyle?  Professor Mike Golden, who works with United Nations agencies involved in malnutrition, says much of the problem with nutrition is not the quantity of food, but the quality of food we eat, with people needing about 40 different nutrients to be healthy.

Organic nutrients include carbohydrates, proteins or amino acids, lipids, and vitamins. Inorganic nutrients include minerals.  Water is sometimes included in a listing of nutrients. Vitamin A acts as a shield against eye disease, skin disease, heart ailments, diarrhea, and many other ailments. Vitamin C fights a host of illnesses including colds and the flu while supporting the cardiovascular system. Calcium is necessary in building strong bones and teeth, plus it helps prevent osteoporosis.

The combination of vitamin D and calcium brings a remarkable reduction in cancer risk. Potassium is essential for the functioning of the brain and nerves, and significantly lowers the risk of a stroke.  Finally, proteins are necessary for the basic building blocks - amino acids - of all of our body cells.

Interaction between nutritional compounds is necessary for health in all ways.  Vitamins cannot function without minerals.  Without minerals, your body can’t function. Vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients are best absorbed and used by the body when they are derived from natural sources (plants and animals) and are present in naturally occurring complex compounds, not as separate compounds as formulated in pills.
A new review involving dozens of studies of the antioxidant vitamins A, E and C, confirms this, finding the popular supplements don’t help you live longer.  As a result, some researchers now believe antioxidants work only when they are in food.   Alice Lichtenstein, a professor of nutrition science and policy at Tufts University, not involved with the review, says the study’s main message is: “Rely on food to get your nutrients.”

Health begins in the Individual Cell 

The human body requires 20 amino acids to grow, build, and maintain cells.  Amino acids are the building blocks of protein.  Amino acids relate to proteins as letters of the alphabet relate to words.

The proteins in Moringa TEA gives 18 of the 20 known amino acids, including all eight amino acids classified as essential. These essential amino acids cannot be synthesized by the body and must come from a person’s diet, usually from red meat or dairy products. These foods are not available in many parts of the world and are lacking in the diets of vegetarians, elderly people, and children.

Moringa, with it’s 90+ verifiable nutrients, not only contains all these elements, but also has significant portions of Vitamins B, B1, B2, B3, D, and E, polyphenols (antioxidants), other minerals, fiber, and is one of the highest, naturally occurring sources of chlorophyll.

Inflammation as Potent as Cholesterol

Independent studies that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine say inflammation is as potent as cholesterol. An article in Men’s Health (Dec 2004), Bonfires of the Arteries, concurs, reporting that “inflammation is the slow burn that sparks thousands of heart attack and strokes every year”.

According to Paul Ridker, MD, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, “Half of all heart attacks and strokes in the United States each year occur among people with essentially normal cholesterol levels”.  Dr. Ridker continued, “There is more to heart disease than just lipids. A heart attack occurs when plaque ruptures inside your vessels. Rupturing is not dependant just on how much plaque is present, but also on the level of inflammation”.

According to a 2003 report from the University of South Florida, chronic inflammation partly due to an estrogen deficiency may render postmenopausal women vulnerable to degenerative conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Low-grade inflammation is also underneath aging and age-related disease, according to dermatologist Nicholas V. Perricone, MD.   Perricone says, “The skin is always getting inflamed by sun, weather, pollution, and products because it is our interface between the environment and our body.  So the best ways to decrease disease risk and slow the aging process is to take nutrients with powerful anti-inflammatory activity on a regular basis. Through a three-tier approach involving diet, supplements, and creams, we can control the rate at which we age”.

Moringa contains 36 anti-inflammatories.

Moringa and Skin Health 

Moringa contains a recently discovered cytokinin (plant hormones that induce cell division, growth, and delay aging of cells).  Moringa Tea has named this unique compound Moringa YSP. In recent clinical tests, this naturally occurring substance increased both the growth and yield of agricultural products and, when added to the diets of dairy cattle, significantly increased their milk production and furthermore promoted more rapid cellular regeneration. Clinical studies have shown Moringa YSP produces anti-aging properties in humans. The human skin life cycle is approximately 300 days. Every minute more than 40,000 individual skin cells die.  With the use of Moringa YSP the human skin cycle was altered by the fact that new skin cells grew faster than the older cells died. This resulted in an amazing reduction of wrinkles on the face and other parts of the body.

Zeatin, one of the compounds in Moringa YSP, is a supreme anti-oxidant with powerful anti-aging properties. Zeatin slows the aging process by helping the body replace cells at a faster rate than they age, giving a more youthful appearance to the skin.  A 2004 study by Seneteck PLC shows that Zeatin does not interfere with the genetic control of cellular lifespan, that it promotes maintenance of small cell size (key determinant of youthful skin), and prevents the accumulation of macromolecular damage in the cell.  It was also found the Zeatin increases the activity of anti-oxidants to counter act the damage caused by free radicals during cell aging and protects healthy cells from the stress of daily life. Moringa has several thousand times more Zeatin than any other known plant.

Dietary and Health Benefits of Moringa

Until recently, only a smattering of research had been completed in India, its bordering countries, and in parts of Africa.  Even less research had been done in the West.  Then, not long ago, the University of Leicester in England performed a number of studies.  The results from these studies along with the limited number of studies conducted in the United States confirm the dietary and health benefits of the Moringa, with some of the results showing to lower cholesterol, assist the respiratory system and minimize the effects of asthma. Moringa has no known impurities or adverse reactions when consumed.

While some of the benefits of the Moringa plant have been tapped by various impoverished civilizations, the plant’s nutritional potential was not “discovered” by modern societies until the late nineteenth century.  The indigenous knowledge and use of Moringa is referenced in more than 80 countries and known in over 200 local languages, has over 300 references to it in ayurvedic medicine.  Even with the known value of this plant, little has been done to introduce its amazing benefits to the world.

Amino Acids: Can’t Live Without Them 

What are they and exactly what do they do for us?

You can’t live without them. You’re unhealthy with too few of them. But in the right amounts they keep your body systems strong.

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Just as different letters of the alphabet are used to form different words, so are different amino acids used to build different proteins.

The human body is capable of manufacturing only 12 of the 20 different amino acids needed to build proteins used to grow, repair, and maintain cells.  The other eight are known as essential amino acids because since the body cannot manufacture them, theymust come from a person’s diet, usually red meat or dairy products.

This is not as simple as it sounds since frequently the full range of amino acids a body needs to be healthy are lacking in our food. As one pharmacist noted, “I see a lot of overweight people, but they’re all malnourished.”

Wellness exists and disease begins in the individual cell.

Cells go through regeneration as often as every couple of days. Our skin is totally replaced every 27 days and our skeleton is renewed every two years.  Every day billions of cells replace the ones that came before.  Every regeneration must be a perfect copy.  This process of regeneration is threatened by many things: pollution in the air, water, and soil, radiation from the sun, stress, lifestyle choices, and even the ingredients in our over processed foods.  One thing is certain; to be healthy a body needs the tiny biomolecules called amino acids.  As small as they are, amino acids play a big role in a body’s healthy nutrition. In the right bio-available amounts, they fortify the body against the most common health concerns, and have been shown in studies to combat the aging process.

Because Moringa Tea, is naturally packed with 18 of the 20 amino acids which are highly absorbable and absolutely crucial to good health.  According to clinical pharmacologist, Dr. Monica G. Marcu, “Amino acids are best absorbed from a complex, naturally occurring food or plant source.” Ann Hirsch, PhD, Professor of Botany at University of California, Los Angeles, concurs saying, “One of the things that impresses me most about Moringa is the fact that it has the full complement of the essential amino acids that humans beings need; there are eight of them that we cannot synthesize, so we have to get them from our food.” Moringa is one of very few plants that contain all eight essential amino acids;

All Eight Essential Amino Acids
Here is a list of the complete range of naturally occurring amino acids found in Moringa and a brief explanation of why our bodies require them:

ISOLEUCINE builds proteins and enzymes and it provides ingredients used to create other essential biochemical components in your body, some of which promote energy and stimulate the brain to keep you alert.
LEUCINE works with isoleucine to build proteins and enzymes which enhance your body’s energy and alertness.
LYSINE insures your body absorbs the right amount of calcium.  It also helps form collagen used in your bone cartilage and connective tissues.  And lysine aids in the production of antibodies, hormones, and enzymes. Recent studies have shown lysine improves the balance of nutrients that reduce viral growth.
METHIONINE primarily supplies sulfur to your body.  It is known to prevent hair, skin, and nail problems while lowering cholesterol levels as it increases your liver’s production of lecithin.  Methionine reduces liver fat and protects the kidneys, which reduces bladder irritation.
PHENYLALAINE produces the chemical needed to transmit signals between your nerve cells and your brain.  It can help keep you alert, reduce your hunger pains, plus improve your memory and your mood.
THREONINE is an important part of collagen, elastin, and enamel proteins.   Not only does it assist metabolism, threonine helps prevent fat build-up in the liverwhile boosting your body’s digestive and intestinal tracts.
TRYPTOHYAN supports your immune system, alleviates insomnia, reduces anxiety, depression, and the symptoms of migraine headaches. It also isbeneficial in decreasing the risk of artery and heart spasms as it works with lysine to reduce cholesterol levels.
VALINE is important in promoting a sharp mind, coordinated muscles, and a calm mood.

Ten Non-Essential Amino Acids

These non-essential amino acids, which can be manufactured by your body with the help of proper nutrition, are also found abundantly in Moringa:

ALANINE is important when it comes to building energy in your muscle tissue, brain, and central nervous system.  It strengthens your immune system by producing antibodies.  Alanine also helps in the healthy metabolism of sugars and organic acids in your body.
ARGININE has been shown in studies to cause the release of the growth hormones considered crucial for optimal muscle growth and tissue repair. It also improves immune responses to bacteria, viruses, and tumor cells while promoting the healing of your body’s wounds.
ASPARTIC ACID helps rid your body of ammonia created by cellular waste. When the ammonia enters your circulatory system it can act as a highly toxic substance which can damage your central nervous system. Recent studies have also shown that aspartic acid may decrease fatigue and increase endurance.
CYSTINE functions as an antioxidant and is a powerful aid to the body in protecting against radiation and pollution. It can help slow the aging process, deactivate free radicals, and neutralize toxins.  It also aids in protein synthesis and presents cellular change.  It is necessary for the formation of new skin cells, which aids in the recovery from burns and surgical operations.
GLUTAMIC ACID is food for the brain.  It improves mental capacities, helps speed the healing of ulcers, reduces fatigue, and curbs your sugar cravings.
GLYCINE promotes the release of oxygen required in the cell-making process.  It is also important in the manufacturing of hormones responsible for a strong immune system.
HISTIDINE is used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, allergies, ulcers, and anemia. A lack of histidine may lead to poor hearing.
SERINE is important in storing glucose in the liver and muscles.  Its antibodies help strengthen your body’s immune system.  Plus, it synthesizes fatty acid sheaths around nerve fibers.
PROLINE is extremely important for the proper function of your joints and tendons.  It also helps maintain and strengthen heart muscles.
TRYROSINE transmits nerve impulses to your brain.  It helps overcome depression; improves memory; increases mental alertness; plus promotes the healthy functioning of the thyroid, adrenal, and pituitary glands.

Benefits of Chlorophyll

Natural healer
Neutralizes toxins
Flushes toxins from the body
Purifies the liver
Removes heavy metals pollutants
Helps strengthen the immune system
Assists in building red blood cells
Rejuvenates at cellular level
Reduces the ph level in the body  

Chlorophyll, one of the phytonutrients in Moringa

Chlorophyll, the green pigment of plants, is an alkalinizing compound found in plants that helps offset the acidifying effect of the typical high-fat, high-protein Western diet.   Because chlorophyll is not known to be an essential nutrient, a “deficiency” does not exist. People who do not eat plenty of green foods lack chlorophyll in their diets.

“Chlorophyll is involved in the most important chemical reaction on earth, photosynthesis.  Our lives would not be possible without it.  Chlorophyll is the master chemical at the base of all of our food supply and oxygen production.

Chlorophyll, often referred  to as “the blood of plants”, is closely related to hemoglobin – the red pigment of red blood cells responsible for oxygen transport in many animals.  The main difference between the two molecules is the metallic element in the center.  In human blood hemoglobin consists of iron, while in chlorophyll, the metallic element is magnesium.  Some people believe that this resemblance helps the chlorophyll to be better absorbed and used to “build up” blood and fight anemia. Some scientists and nutritionists do not believe it is absorbed internally (to reach the blood) but rather that it may act locally to support the health of the mouth, stomach and intestinal tract.

In either case, there is much evidence that chlorophyll could cure or ease acute infection of the respiratory tract and sinuses, chronic ulcers, and bad breath; it also accelerates wound healing and has been shown in animal studies to nullify the cancer-inducing effects of a variety of environmental (including food) toxins.  Other studies have shown that chlorophyll supports liver function and detoxification of the body.

Moringa is one of the very few foods that contain chlorophyll together with so many other nutrients (vitamins, minerals, proteins, beneficial fats), and has a great taste.  Dark green vegetables and herbs like Romaine lettuce, spinach, or parsley are excellent sources of chlorophyll, but they do not provide many of the other nutrients of Moringa.”

Excerpt from Miracle Tree, by Monica Marcu, Pharmagologist.

Moringa, is loaded with phytonutrients, but what are phytonutrients and where are they found?

Phytonutrients

The term “phyto” originated from a Greek word meaning plant.  Phytonutrients are certain organic components of plants, and these components are thought to promote human health.  Fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, and teas are rich sources of phytonutrients.  Unlike the traditional nutrients (protein, fat, vitamins, minerals), phytonutrients are not “essential” for life, so some people prefer the term “phytochemical.”

Rui Hai Liu, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Food Science at Cornell University, has examined antioxidant activity in various fruits.   Dr. Liu estimates there are probably thousands of phytonutrinets in plant foods, and that each one works with others to perform many protective functions.  These include stimulating the immune system, warding off damage from free radicals and putting the brakes on cell growth.

What are the major classes of phytonutrients?

Some of the common classes of phytonutrients include:

• Carotenoids
• Flavonoids (Polyphenols), including Isoflavones (Phytoestrogens)
• Inositol Phosphates (Phytates)
• Lignans (Phytoestrogens)
• Isothiocyanates and Indoles
• Phenols and Cyclic Compounds
• Saponins
• Sulfides and Thiols
• Terpenes

About Carotenoids

Of all the phytonutrients, the most known about are carotenoids, the red, orange, and yellow pigments in fruits and vegetables.  The carotenoids most commonly found in vegetables (and in plasma) are listed below along with common sources of these compounds.  Fruits and vegetables that are high in carotenoids appear to protect humans against certain cancers, heart disease, and age-related macular degeneration.

Carotenoid Common Food Source:

• alpha-carotene carrots, moringa
• beta-carotene leafy green and yellow vegetables (eg. broccoli, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots, moringa)
• beta-cryptoxanthin citrus, peaches, apricots
• lutein leafy greens such as kale, spinach, turnip greens, moringa
• lycopene tomato products, pink grapefruit, watermelon, guava
• zeaxanthin eggs, citrus, green vegetables, moringa

About Polyphenols 

Polyphenolic compounds are natural components of a wide variety of plants; they are also known as secondary plant metabolites.  Food sources rich in polyphenols include onion, apple, tea, red wine, red grapes, grape juice, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries, and certain nuts.  The average polyphenol/ flavonoid intake in the U.S. has not been determined with precision, in large part, because there is presently no U.S. national food database for these compounds (USDA scientists and their colleagues are in the process of developing a database for foods rich in polyphenols).  Scientists at the Food Composition Laboratory, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center are currently developing new methodology for the accurate measurement of polyphenols in foods.  Polyphenols can be classified as nonflavonoids and flavonoids.  The flavonoids quercetin and catechins are the most extensively studied polyphenols relative to absorption and metabolism.

Nonflavonoids Sources

• ellagic acid strawberries, blueberries, raspberries coumarins

Flavonoids Sources

• anthocyanins Fruits
• catechins tea, wine
• flavanones citrus
• flavones Fruits and vegetables
• flavonols Fruits, vegetables, tea, wine
• isoflavones soybeans

How do phytonutrients protect against disease?

The following are commonly proposed mechanisms by which phytonutrients may protect human health.  More research is needed to firmly establish the mechanisms of action of the various phytochemicals.

Phytonutrients may:

• Serve as antioxidants
• Enhance immune response
• Enhance cell-to-cell communication
• Alter estrogen metabolism
• Convert to vitamin A (beta-carotene is metabolized to vitamin A)
• Cause cancer cells to die (apoptosis)
• Repair DNA damage caused by smoking and other toxic exposures
• Detoxify carcinogens through the activation of the cytocrome P450 and phase II enzyme systems

What is the present status of the art of phytonutrients research?
Population studies have linked fruit and vegetable consumption with lowering the risk for chronic diseases including specific cancers and heart disease.   While media and consumer interest in phytonutrients and functional foods is far ahead of established proof that documents the health benefits of these foods or food components for humans, phytonutrient research is experiencing remarkable growth.  For now, it appears that an effective strategy for reducing risk of cancer and heart disease is to increase consumption of phytonutrient-rich foods including fruits, vegetables, grains and teas.

Excerpt from WebMD
entire article: http://www.webmd.com/diet/phytonutrients-faq

Moringa Main Ingredient

Moringa Oleifera, most nutrient rich plant discovered to date. Includes vitamins, minerals, supreme anti-oxidants, essential amino acids,  plus other amazing ingredients.

Nutritional powerhouse Moringa has gram for gram:

• 7 times the vitamin C in oranges
• 4 times the vitamin A in carrots
• 4 times the calcium in milk (with no lactose)
• 3 times the potassium in bananas
• 2 times the protein in yogurt

Moringa YSP (naturally occurring nutrient compound)

• Found only in Moringa
• The only 100% natural metabolic trigger
• Most powerful of all anti-oxidants
• Promotes healthy veins and arteries
• Anti-inflammatory agents
• Anti-aging compounds.
• Collagen (helps maintain healthy skin)
• Chlorophyll

More found in Moringa than any other plant:

• 4 times the amount in wheat grass
• Natural healer
• Rejuvenates the body at the cellular level
• Strengthens the immune system
• Naturally cleanses the body of toxins
• reduces the ph level of the body

Vitamins and Minerals

Perform many vital functions for the body, but what are they, and what exactly do they do for us?

Vitamins and minerals perform many vital functions for the body and can lower your risk for many chronic diseases and cancers.  These substances are essential to normal metabolism, growth and development, and regulation of the functioning of your body’s cells and tissues. Vitamins and minerals are obtained from food, except for vitamin D and vitamin K, which the body can synthesize.  Minerals are simple chemical elements and are an essential part of your body’s functioning.  Minerals cannot be synthesized by your body and must be obtained through the food you eat.

What is a vitamin or mineral deficiency?

A deficiency of a vitamin or mineral can result if you are not getting enough of it in your diet, your ordinary nutritional needs increase, or you are unable to absorb the nutrients from the food you eat.  A deficiency or lack of a vitamin or mineral in your diet can lead to a nutritional deficiency disease, such as rickets.  There are complex interactions among vitamins and minerals, and a deficiency or excess of one affects others.

What is the difference between a water soluble vitamin and a fat soluble vitamin?

A water soluble vitamin (vitamin B and C) can not be stored by the body and must be replenished every day. A vitamin that is stored by the body is known as a fat soluble (vitamin A, D, E, and K). Over time fat soluble vitamins can build up to toxic levels.

What are the Daily Recommended Allowances (RDAs)?

Two agencies, the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, have both issued standards for meeting the nutritional needs of men, women, and children.  Expressed as RDA, they generally indicate the amount of a particular nutrient that is needed to avoid nutritional diseases.

What are antioxidant vitamins and why are they important?

Our bodies are actually battlegrounds for infection and diseases.  Normal body functions, such as breathing or physical activity, and other lifestyle habits, such as smoking, produce substances called free radicals that attack healthy cells. When these healthy cells are weakened, they are more susceptible to cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancers. Antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E, and cartenoids, which include beta-carotene and lutein, help protect healthy cells from damage caused by free radicals.

We have vitamins A, B, C, D, E, AND K.

Whatever happened to vitamins F-J?

Vitamins are named in the order of discovery.  Later research found vitamins F-J closely related to other vitamins, mainly the B complex group, and were re-assigned.

A Partial List of the Vitamins and Minerals in Moringa:

- Vitamins
As defined by A.D.A.M. Inc.

Vitamin A (Beta carotene)
Definition: Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin.
Function: Vitamin A (retinol) essential in the formation and maintenance of healthy teeth, skeletal and soft tissue, mucous membranes, and skin.  It may also be required for reproduction and lactation.  It is also known as retinol because it generates the pigments in the retina.  Vitamin A promotes good vision, especially in dim light. When Vitamin A is manufactured by plants, it is present in the form of a precursor called beta carotene.  Beta carotene is an anti-oxidant—a substance that protects the body against disease and premature aging by fighting the cell-damaging chemicals called free radicals.   Vegetable sources of beta-carotene are fat and cholesterol free (not so with vitamin A from dairy and meat products).  The body regulates the conversion of beta-carotene to Vitamin A based on the body’s needs.  The more intense the color of a fruit or vegetable, the higher the beta-carotene content.
Deficiency: Vitamin A deficiency can increase the susceptibility to infectious diseases, as well as cause vision problems.

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)
Definition: Vitamin B1, one of the B vitamins, a group of water-soluble vitamins that participate in many of the chemical reactions in the body. Thiamine is important in the production of energy.
Function: Thiamine helps the body cells convert carbohydrates into energy. It is also essential for the functioning of the heart, muscles, and nervous system.
Deficiency: A deficiency of thiamine can cause weakness, fatigue, psychosis, and  nerve damage.

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
Definition: A water-soluble vitamin required by the body for health, growth and reproduction; one of the B-complex vitamins.
Function: Riboflavin works with the other B vitamins. It is important for body growth and red cell production, and helps in releasing energy from carbohydrates.  Because riboflavin is destroyed by exposure to light, foods with riboflavin should not be stored in glass containers that are exposed to light.
Deficiency: Deficiency symptoms include dry and cracked skin and eyes that are sensitive to bright light.

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)                                                                                Definition: Niacin (vitamin B3) is a water-soluble vitamin required by the body for health, growth and reproduction; part of the vitamin B complex.
Function: Niacin assists in the functioning of the digestive system, skin, and nerves.  It is also important for the conversion of food to energy.                            
Deficiency: A deficiency of niacin causes pellagra. The symptoms include inflamed skin, digestive problems, and mental impairment.

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)
Definition: A water-soluble vitamin, part of the B complex.
Function: Vitamin B6 plays a role in the synthesis of antibodies in the immune system.  It helps maintain normal nerve function and acts in the formation of red blood cells.  It is also required for the chemical reactions of proteins. The higher the protein intake, the more need for vitamin B6.                   Deficiency: Deficiency of this vitamin is not common in the United States.

Vitamin B7 (Biotin, formerly vitamin H)
Definition:  Biotin, a water-soluble vitamin, helps the body break down and use food. Biotin is part of the B vitamin complex.
Function:  Biotin is essential for the metabolism of proteins and carbohydrates (like the other B vitamins), and in the synthesis of hormones and cholesterol.
Deficiency: There is no known dietary deficiency of Biotin.

Vitamin C (Absorbic acid)
Definition: A water-soluble vitamin that is necessary for normal growth and development.
Function: Vitamin C promotes healthy teeth and gums, helps in the absorption of iron, aids in the maintenance of normal connective tissue, and promotes wound healing.  It also helps the body’s immune system.
Deficiency: A deficiency of vitamin C causes the disease scurvy, which is rare in the U.S.

Vitamin D  (Cholecalciferol)                                                                  Definition: Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is used in the absorption of calcium.
Function: Vitamin D promotes the body’s absorption of calcium, which is essential for the normal development of healthy teeth and bones.  It also helps maintain adequate blood levels of the minerals calcium and phosphorus.  Vitamin D is also known as the “sunshine vitamin” because the body manufactures the vitamin after being exposed to sunshine.  Ten to 15 minutes of sunshine 3 times weekly is adequate to produce the body’s requirement of vitamin D.
Deficiency: A vitamin D deficiency leads to soft bones (rickets).

Vitamin E (Tocopherol)                                                                         Definition: Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin; it is one of the vitamins that act as antioxidants.
Function: Vitamin E is an antioxidant that protects body tissue from the damage of oxidation.  It is important in the formation of red blood cells and the use of vitamin K.
Deficiency: There is no known dietary deficiency of vitamin E.

Vitamin K
Definition: Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays an important role in blood clotting.
Function: Vitamin K is known as the clotting vitamin, because without it blood would not clot.  Some studies indicate that it helps in maintaining strong bones in the elderly.  Vitamin K is also made by the bacteria that line the gastrointestinal tract.
Deficiency: Vitamin K deficiency is very rare.  It occurs when there is an inability to absorb the vitamin from the intestinal tract, and can also occur after prolonged treatment with oral antibiotics.

- Minerals                                                                    
As defined by A.D.A.M. Inc.

Calcium in Diet
Definition: The most plentiful mineral found in the human body; calcium accounts for 1.5% to 2% of an adult’s total body weight.  The teeth and the bones contain the majority of the body’s calcium (about 99%).  Calcium in these tissues is concentrated in the form of calcium phosphate salts. Body tissues, blood, and other body fluids contain the remaining calcium (1%).                                          
Function: Calcium is one of the most important minerals for the growth, maintenance, and reproduction of the human body. The bones in the human body incorporate calcium into their structure.  Bones, like other tissues in the body, are continually being reabsorbed and re-formed. Teeth are also calcified tissues. They incorporate calcium in their structure in a manner similar to bones.  Calcium is essential for the formation of and maintenance of healthy teeth.  Calcium has other functions in addition to maintaining healthy teeth and bones.  Blood coagulation, transmission of nerve impulses, muscle contraction and relaxation, normal heart beat, stimulation of hormone secretion, activation of enzyme reactions, as well as other functions, all require small amounts of calcium.            
Deficiency: Low intakes of calcium for prolonged periods of time can lead to calcium deficiency. This condition leads to osteoporsis, loss of the jaw bone (and secondary oral health problems), hypertension, and other disorders.

Copper in Diet
Definition: An essential trace mineral that is present in all of the body tissues.    
Function: Copper, along with iron, helps in the formation of red blood cells. It also helps in keeping the blood vessels, nerves, immune system, and bones healthy.
Deficiency: Dietary deficiency of copper is not very common in humans.

Iron in Diet
Definition: Iron is an important trace mineral that is found in every cell of the body, usually combined with protein.
Function: The mineral iron is an essential nutrient for humans because it is part of blood cells, which carry oxygen to all body cells. About 30% of the iron in our bodies is in storage to be readily available to replace lost iron.  Iron is essential to the formation of hemoglobin and myoglobin, which carry the oxygen in the blood and the muscle.  It also makes up part of many proteins and enzymes in the body.
Deficiency: Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide.  Although full-blown anemia is rarely evident, partial deficiency is widespread.   Initial symptoms of iron deficiency anemia are fatigue and lack of energy.   Dizziness, weight loss, and lowered immunity can also occur.  Other symptoms of decreased iron stores include shortness of breath, irritability, and/or lethargy.

Potassium in Diet
Definition: Potassium is a mineral that is involved in both electrical and cellular function in the body.  (In the body it is classified as an electrolyte).                    
Function: Potassium is a very important mineral to the human body.  It assists in the regulation of the acid-base and water balance in the blood and the body tissues.  It assists in protein synthesis from amino acids and in carbohydrate metabolism.  It is necessary for the building of muscle and for normal body growth.
Deficiency: A deficiency of potassium can occur in people with chronic disease or as a result of the aging process.  The most common symptom of potassium depletion is fatigue.  Other common problems associates with reduced potassium levels are hypertension, congestive heart failure, cardiac arrthymias, and depression.  Other symptoms include slow reflexes, muscle weakness, and dry skin.   A variety of conditions can cause the loss of potassium from the body.  The most common of these conditions are vomiting, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal problems.

Magnesium
Definition: Magnesium is an essential mineral for human nutrition.
Function: Magnesium in the body serves several important metabolic functions. It plays a role in the production and transport of energy. It is also important for the contraction and relaxation of muscles. Magnesium is involved in the synthesis of protein, and it assists in the functioning of certain enzymes in the body.  Toxic symptoms from increased magnesium intake are not common because the body eliminates excess amounts. Magnesium excess almost always occurs only when magnesium is supplemented as a medication.
Deficiency: Deficiency symptoms have three categories:
Early symptoms include irritability, anorexia, fatigue, insomnia, and muscle twitching. Other symptoms include poor memory, apathy, confusion, and reduced ability to learn.
Moderate deficiency symptoms consist of rapid heartbeat and other cardiovascular changes.
Severe deficiency of magnesium could lead to tingling, numbness, sustained contraction of the muscles, and hallucinations and delirium.

Manganese
Definition: Manganese  is required by the body for normal growth and health.
Function: Manganese helps your body break down fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. It does so as part of several enzymes.
Deficiency: Manganese deficiency has not been reported in humans.

Phosphorous
Definition: Phosphorus is a mineral that makes up 1% of the total body weight. It is present in every cell of the body, with 85% of the body’s phosphorus being found in the bones and teeth.
Function: The main function of phosphorus is in the formation of bones and teeth. It plays an important role in the body’s utilization of carbohydrates and fats and in the synthesis of protein for the growth, maintenance, and repair of cells and tissues. It is also crucial for the production of ATP, a molecule the body uses to store energy.  Phosphorus works with the B vitamins. It also assists in the contraction of muscles, in the functioning of kidneys, in maintaining the regularity of the heartbeat, and in nerve conduction.
Deficiency: There is generally no deficiency of phosphorus because it is so readily available in the food supply.   Excessively high levels of phosphorus in the blood, although rare, can combine with calcium to form deposits in soft tissues such as muscle. High levels of phosphorus in blood only occur in people with severe kidney disease or severe dysfunction of their calcium regulation.

Zinc
Definition: Zinc is an important trace mineral. This element is second only to iron in its concentration in the body.  
Function: Zinc plays an important role in the proper functioning of the immune system in the body. It is required for the enzyme activities necessary for cell division, cell growth, and wound healing. It plays a role in the acuity of the senses of smell and taste. Zinc is also involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates.  Low-protein diets and vegetarian diets tend to be low in zinc.
Deficiency: Symptoms associated with zinc deficiency include the following:  
Slow growth
Poor appetite
Decrease in wound healing
Loss of hair
Impaired sense of taste
Impaired sense of smell
Hypogonadism in males
More frequent infections
Inability or difficulty in adapting vision to the dark
Various skin lesions

Fatty Acids – Omega Oils

 Not all fats are created equal.  Research has shown it is the type of fat not the amount of fat we consume that is important. There are four basic types of fat that the body takes from food: cholesterol, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated essential fatty acids. The polyunsaturated essential fatty acids are the one’s the body uses to build itself.   A particulary bad fifth group of fats are the man-made hyrogenated trans-fats that are found in just about all processed foods containing shortening or oil.

Animal sources contain mostly saturated fats.  Many plant derived fats are unsaturated fats.  Saturated fats increase the occurrence of among other things, chronic diseases, inflammation, heart problems and strokes.  Unsaturated fats on the other hand not only nourish the body, they protect against many diseases and fight inflammation and infections.

Fat Groups:

· Saturated fats: Solid at room temperature. Found in meat, dairy products, and certain vegetable oils, such as palm and coconut oils.

· Trans fats: Solid at room temperature. Processed fats not found in nature that are used to make shelf-stable shortenings such as Crisco, fast-food French fries, many types of margarine, and commercial baked goods such as doughnuts and cookies.

· Monounsaturated fats: Liquid at room temperature. Includes olive oil, peanut oil, and canola oil. Also found in peanuts, cashews, many other nuts, and avocados.

· Polyunsaturated fats: Liquid at room temperature. Includes plant oils, such as corn and soybean. Also found in seeds, legumes, whole grains, and fatty fish, such as salmon and tuna. Omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats. The former is found in oily cold-water fish, walnuts, flaxseed, wheat germ, and canola oil; the latter in corn, safflower, sunflower, and soybean oil.

What are Fatty Acids?

Fats and oils in foods are made up of basic units called fatty acids.   The oils and fats that people eat are nearly always mixtures of 3 types of fatty acids– monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, or saturated fats, with one type predominating.  Two specific types of polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic (omega 6) and alpha-linolenic (omega 3), are called essential fatty acids (EFAs).  They must be present in the diet in adequate amounts because they are literally essential to life and health.  Seven critical functions of essential fats are:

• Developing and maintaining gray matter in the brain
• Achieving optimal growth
• Maintaining the integrity of cell membranes
• Keeping skin healthy
• Proper visual development
• Maintaining a healthy nervous system
• Regulation of blood pressure, blood clotting and the body’s inflammatory response

Omega-9, Oleic Acid
One of the best types of fats is oleic acid (Omega-9).  Omega 9, a monounsaturated
oil (MUFA), is not an essential fatty acid as the body can synthesize it from other nutritional compounds that are consumed.  It occurs naturally in greater quantities than any other fatty acid.  Oleic acid is the main fat in olive oil.  Olive oil is well known for it’s health benefits, with science clearly linking oleic acid to lower cardiovascular risk, lower blood levels of cholesterol and lower levels of blood glucose.  Olive oil is about 75% oleic acid, Moringa Oliefera follows closely having about 73% oleic acid. (Oleifera is a Latin term meaning oil containing).  Oleic acid comprises about 55% in Canola oil and about 20% in sunflower oil.    Studies suggest that in countries with higher obesity prevalence, it is the shift from MUFA (such as olive oil) to PUFA (vegetable oils) that particularly appears to be associated with the risk of obesity.

EFAs

EFAs belong to the class of fatty acids called polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).   The unsaturated fats, Omega 3 (alpha-linolenic acid) and Omega 6, (linoleic acid) are considered Essential Fatty Acids because they are needed to maintain life.  Like essential amino acids, they cannot be manufactured by the body and so must come from the food we eat.  In addition to providing energy, Essential Fatty Acids are part of the structure of every cell in our bodies. Together, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids play a crucial role in brain function as well as normal growth and development.

Omega 6, Linoleic Acid

With respect to fatty acids – balance appears to be important.  Human beings evolved on a diet with a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs) of approximately 1:1.  Western diets are woefully deficient in omega-3 fatty acids, and have excessive amounts of omega-6 fatty acids with the ratio being 15:1-17:1.

In todays world, cereals – mainly wheat, corn and rice – predominate, leading to a relative deficiency of omega 3 fats compared with omega 6 fats.This imbalance is worsened by the consumption of meat from intensively reared animals fed grain relatively rich in omega 6 fats rather than wild plants with a high omega 3 fat content. Even farmed fish contain lower amounts of omega 3 than those living wild. The wide use of polyunsaturated oils (linoleic acid is the major polyunsaturated fatty acid in vegetable oils) also exaberates the ratio imbalance.

Research shows the proper ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids is a key factor in preventing many of the modern chronic diseases including coronary heart disease, cardiac arrhythmias, high blood pressure, some cancers, macular denegeration, inflammatory and auto-immune disorders.  Bringing the fats into proper proportion may actually relieve those conditions, as the right balance of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids enables the body to reduce inflammation, lower blood pressure, prevent irregular heart beats and promote healthy blood flow.  For a healthy balance, it is recommended that the ratio be less than 5:1.

Omega 3, Alpha-linolenic Acid
Over 2,000 scientific studies have demonstrated the wide range of problems associated with Omega-3 deficiencies.  The American diet is almost devoid of Omega 3′s,  as there are few sources of Omega 3 except for certain types of fish.  In fact, researchers believe that about 60% of Americans are deficient in Omega-3 fatty acids, and about20% have so little that test methods cannot even detect any in their blood.

Just as muscles are made of protein and bones are made of calcium, the human brain is more than 60% structural fat.  But it’s not just any fat that our brains are made of. It has to be certain types of fats, and we no longer eat these types of fats like we used to.   Instead, we eat man-made trans-fats and excessive amounts of saturated fats and vegetable oils, all of which interfere which our body’s attempt to utilize the small amount of Omega-3 fats that it gets.

A Purdue University study has showed that kids low in Omega-3 essential fatty acids are significantly more likely to be hyperactive, have learning disorders, and to display behavioral problems.   According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, Omega-3 deficiencies have also been tied to many conditions, including the following:  allergies, arthritis, cancer, eczmea, diabetes, depression, dyslexia, eczema, heart diseaes, inflammatory diseases, memory problems, and violence.

the following is an excerpt from the article The Dark Side of Good Fats by Dean Ornish, M.D:

……”Omega-3 fatty acids are found in cold-water fish (mackerel, herring, salmon, trout, sardines and albacore tuna), as well as oils from canola, soybean, flaxseed and walnuts. (In contrast, olive oil does not contain much of the omega-3 fatty acids.)  In smaller concentrations, they are present in dark green leafy vegetables like kale and collard greens.

Omega-3 fatty acids may reduce triglycerides (a form of fat), lower blood pressure and decrease inflammation (thereby reducing arthritis and other inflammatory illnesses), as well as autoimmune diseases such as lupus. They can help to prevent excessive blood clots from forming which, in turn, may decrease the risk of a heart attack and stroke. They may help prevent irregular heartbeats.

When given to pregnant women and lactating mothers, omega-3 fatty acids (which are an important part of your brain) may actually increase your baby’s IQ by six points or more and may reduce the incidence of allergic disease in the offspring.  They also may reduce depression and may help prevent dementia.  Some studies suggest that the omega-3 fatty acids may even reduce the risk of prostate cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer.

The omega-3 fatty acids stabilize the rhythm of your heart by effectively removing hyper-excitable cells (cells that are only barely receiving enough blood flow)from functioning, thereby reducing the likelihood of irregular heartbeats and sudden cardiac death.  For most people, this is a very good thing and accounts for most of the large reduction in the likelihood of sudden cardiac death.

However, a recent British Medical Journal analysis of nearly 100 studies of omega-3 fatty acids found mixed benefits. In most people they were beneficial, but not so for everyone. For those with congestive heart failure, chronic recurrent angina or evidence that the heart is receiving insufficient blood flow, it may be prudent to avoid taking omega-3 fatty acids or eating foods that contain them, and they should talk to their doctor.”

Diet and Nutrition

Under-nourishment and over-eating both have harmful consequences on the health of the individual”
Ditta B. Sambou, Belfort State Clinic

Supplementation
No longer a matter of Choice

Diet and nutrition go hand in hand.  A better diet leads to better nutrition, and one important component of better nutrition is supplementation. Why?  The body doesn’t absorb every nutrient consumed, making it nearly impossible to get all the right nutrients all of the time.  What’s the best supplement?  The one that works. Who needs to supplement their diet?  Everyone!  Research has shown that when supplement use increases, the use of prescription drugs goes down. According to theAmerican Medical Association, supplementation is no longer a matter of choice, as people who do not supplement their diets are at higher risk for degenerative diseases; and Dr. John Klippel, president of the Arthritis Foundation, stated “There are lots of choices that people need to make and supplements are one of them.

Without the proper nutrients needed to do their job, our bodies are fighting a losing battle to keep us healthy, the result being sickness and disease.  A hundred years ago people died primarily from infectious diseases such as influenza, pneumonia, and diphtheria.  Today the leading causes of death and disability are heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, and other degenerative diseases. In large part this change is due to how we eat (fast foods, over- processed foods), what we eat(partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup), and the quality of what we eat.The Center for Disease Control reports that 5 out of every 10 deaths are due to poor diet. The CDC says that  translates to almost 400,000 Americans dying every year due to obesity from poor nutrition or lack of exercise.

The publication What We Eat in America: NHANES 2001-2002, based on a federal dietary survey of almost 9,000 people, shows that almost a third of us are getting too little Vitamin C, almost half too little vitamin A, more than half too little magnesium, 92 to 97% too little fiber and potassium, and 93% too little vitamin E.

A 1991 study done by the British, and a more recent one done by the University of Texas based on USDA data, show that the food grown today is less nutritious than that grown 60 years ago, due to soil depletion, fertilizers, and high yield varieties.  While fertilizers cause plants to grow bigger and faster, they do nothing to increase the plant’s ability to absorb nutrients at a faster rate.  Research has also found that plants have a fixed amount of energy and varieties with high yields may not have the energy to absorb enough nutrients from the soil to fully supply that high yield.  These studies show that onions have 75% less calcium, potatoes 35% less calcium and 45% less iron, spinach 60% less iron, cabbage 71% less iron, and carrots 75% less magnesium than they did in 1940.

10% Absorption rate on most Vitamins
As a result of growing less nutritious foods, most of the food we eat today is fortified with calcium and vitamins.   Unfortunately most of the calcium used is not the type that is readily absorbed by our bodies, nor do our bodies recognize most of the synthetic vitamins that are added.   Dr. Barnet G. Meltzer, M.D., a well known authority in the field of Preventative Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, says liquid supplementation is superior to tablets, capsules, and powders; one reason being that the binders used to make pills are not readily broken down by the body’s digestive system.   According to Dr. Meltzer, while vitamin pills have only about 10% absorption (15-19% absorption for chelated vitamins), liquid supplementation has minimum of 85% nutritional absorption. Dr. Monica Marcu, Pharmacologist, concurs, saying liquid nutrition is better used by the body than solid nutrition.

Vitamins and other nutrients are best absorbed and used by the body when they are derived from natural sources (plants and animals) and are present in naturally occurring complex compounds, not as separate compounds as formulated in pills.

According to R. Bianchi, a globally recognized food and beverage formulator, out of the approximately 35,000 food products in the grocery store only 1200 to 1500 of the food products have nutrients we can fully absorb. Moringa ysp Tea is 100% bio-available.  That means 100% of the nutrients in Moringa Tea are absorbed. The nutrients are not processed through the digestive system, but rather are absorbed directly into the blood stream, a plus for young children, the elderly, or anyone else whose digestive system may be compromised.  Moringa Tea has been formulated to be taken on an empty stomach, with the nutrients being absorbed in about 20 minutes.  If taken 20-30 minutes before eating, Moringa Tea will help the body better absorb the nutrients contained within the food.   Moringa Tea contains no stimulants, artificial ingredients or preservatives.  A small amount of cane sugar (about 1/5 of a teaspoon) has been added to aid in osmotic absorption of the nutrients and enhance the natural flavor.

Diet and Cancer
The CDC reports that 35% of cancer deaths result from dietary risk factors. A study completed in 2006, by the British arm of EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition), which compared the diets of 500,000 people in 10 countries to discover how diet is linked to cancer, showed that diet is second only to tobacco, as a leading cause of cancer, and, along with alcohol, is responsible for nearly a third of cancer cases in developed countries. It also revealed that diabetics have three times the normal risk of developing colorectal cancer, which kills more than 490,000 people worldwide each year.

Getting enough vitamin D and calcium brings a remarkable reduction in cancer risk, a recent 4-year study at Creighton University found.  Women who took the combo reduced their overall risk by up to 77%. According to lead researcher Joan Lappe, PhD, RN, a professor of nursing and medicine, “Vitamin D enhances your body’s immune response — which is the first line of defense against cancer”.

The ph Effect
Everything we eat affects the ph of our bodies, either raising the ph or lowering it.The body, which prefers an alkaline state, should have a ph of about 7.3.   Processed foods create an acidic state in our bodies that over time is very susceptible to disease.   For example, cancer flourishes in an acidic environment, but not in an alkaline one. The majority of cancer patients possess a very low body ph (6.0 or lower).   Soda pop, with a ph ranging from about 2.7-3.0 is extremely acidic.   The ph level of pop can more than double by the time it has passed through the body.   It does this by stealing precious minerals and fluids that may already be in short supply.   The proper ph level is critical in maintaining good health.  Chlorophyll is very effective in reversing the ph level in the body, and Moringa has the one of the highest levels of chlorophyll, along with an abundance of other beneficial nutrients.   Moringa Tea is ph nuetral.

Fruit Juice and Alzheimer’s
At a recent Alzheimer’s prevention conference, experts looked at the research involving lifestyle choices that may protect the brain. The newest information focusing on nutrition indicates eating fish (Omega-3 oils) three times a week seems to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. It was also found that people who drink fruit juice not made from juice concentrates, at least three times a week, are four times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than non-juice drinkers. The theory is that unconcentrated juice contains high levels of anti-oxidants that may play a brain-protective role.  Moringa contains both Omega-3 oils and many supreme anti-oxidants.

Obesity and HFCS
Obesity in America is at epidemic proportions.   A 2007 study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health concluded that 66 percent of adults and 16 percent of children are overweight or obese.  Studies have shown that the obesity rates in the US exactly follow the trend and time line of the introduction of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) into our diet. Obese people are at greater risk for serious conditions like heart disease and diabetes (the CDC reports a 15% increase in Type 2 diabetes from 2005 -2007 due to obesity) —not to mention the social stigma associated with being larger than their peers.  While most people believe that they gain weight due to heredity, eating too much, or because of aging, the major reasons people gain weight include High Fructose Corn Syrup, nutrient defiency, and changes in body composition.

Moringa Oleifera,
Most nutritious plant discovered to date

While no one food gives us all the nutrition we need, Moringa Oleifera, comes closer than anything else.  Moringa, with its 90 plus nutritional compounds, is the most nutrient rich plant discovered to date.

Diitta B.Sambou, a midwife in Senegal Africa where Moringa is being used to combat malnutrition in pregnantwomen and babies, says under-nourishment and over-eating both have harmful consequences on the health of the individual. State of the World 2000, published by World watch Institute, reports that the number of people who are overfed and undernourished (a staggering 1.2 billion) now equals the number of those who are starving from from lack of food.  Looking at the chart below in reverse shows some of the consequences of poor nutrition.

Pain Relief

COX-2 Inhibitors

COX-2 is short for cyclooxygenase-2, one of the key enzymes that helps the body produce the inflammatory hormonelike compounds prostaglandins and cytokines. COX-2 is activated by injury and inflammation and is essential for fighting infections and healing injuries, but when the body produces too much, the result is chronic inflammation and pain.

Recent news of synthetic COX-2 inhibitors (ie Celebrex, Vioxx) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) has not been good news for consumers. In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel concluded that some well-known COX-2 inhibitor drugs significantly raise the risk of heart attack and stroke.  The FDA issued safety concerns and additionally noted that little is known about the long-term safety of many other synthetic drugs taken for arthritis, pain and inflammation.

There have also been new warnings about the short-term use of over-the-counter ibuprofen, aspirin and acetaminophen pain and anti-inflammatory drugs, because users run a greater risk of gastro-intestinal bleeding, liver and kidney damage and peptic ulcers.   While synthetic COX-2 inhibitors and NSAIDS offer some relief, their benefits may be countered by dangerous side effects.   “There are many problems that a simple pill can’t or won’t fix”, says Sara Walker, Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Missouri. Synthetic medicines need to be handled with care, especially when considering whether the risks outweigh the pain relief they provide.

When properly nourished, the human body is able to counter many of the daily aches and pains that life, exercise and age routinely bring.   The Moringa Oleifera plant contains tremendous phytonutrients that directly support the body’s efforts to inhibit and modulate enzymes that manifest joint pain and age or exercise induced aches and pains. The United States Department of Agriculture has studied and identified natural COX-2 inhibitors such as caffeoylquinic acid, kaempherol and quercetin, all abundantly, placed by Mother Nature, in the Moringa plant.

These natural compounds within the Moringa plant support a healthy, active lifestyle that enhance the body’s ability to relieve pain, inflammation and many other health concerns affecting the body’s various systems.  Moringa’s natural COX-2 inhibitors assist the body to selectively block the COX-2 enzyme, impeding the production of the chemical messengers (prostaglandins) that cause pain and swelling.

Along with these natural COX-2 inhibitors and thanks to Mother Nature’s wisdom,Moringa also provides the body additional documented pain-relieving nutrientsthat include: arginine, beta-sitosterol, calcium, chlorophyll, copper, cystine, omega 3, omega 6, omega 9, fiber, glutathione, histidine, indole acetic acid, isoleucine, leucine, magnesium, oleic-acid, phenylalanine, potassium, rutin, selenium, stigmasterol, sulfur, thiamin, tryptophan, tyrosine, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol, delta-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol), zeatin, and zinc.  In addition, Moringa’s abundantly bio-active compounds, such as carotenoids, flavonoids and polyphenols have been researched regarding their ability to naturally reduce inflammation, promote joint and bone health and they have been found to be both effective and fast-acting.

This proper nourishment provided by the Moringa plant contributes to a healthy and happy life, especially when complemented by weight management through exercise and diet that also significantly reduces pressure on weight-bearing joints.   According to
Dr. John Klippel, president of the Arthritis Foundation, “Supplements continue to be an important option for some people. We’re reminding people there are lots of choicesthat people need to make and supplements are one of them.”

Skin Health

In 2004, consumers spent $44.6 billion on anti-aging products and services, with that amount expected to nearly double by 2009.  Skin care products dominate the anti-aging retail market, controlling 52% of retail sales.  The force behind this anti-aging boom is the routine of applying and reapplying topical agents.  However, these topical remedies for sagging skin are not permanent as the skin regenerates itself every 28 days, requiring continued use of topical agents to maintain their effectiveness.

The cellular turnover cycle that was 28 days in your youth expands to close to 35 days by your 40s.  With new skin equaling younger-looking skin, the goal is to speed things up.

A more natural way to support skin health by regenerating new skin cells without the dermabrasion and chemical peels of topical agents is with Cytokinins.  Cytokinins are plant hormones that promote cellular growth and delay the aging process. Cytokinins stimulate cell division, delay the aging and destruction of tissues, protect against cell oxidation, and postpone cell death.  Studies are now showing that the potent, protective, anti-aging effects of Cytokinins work the same way in human skin. When the diet includes these plant nutrients, the body as a whole can fight aging, starting at the cellular level. The most potent Cytokinin is Zeatin.

A study conducted the University of Aarhus, Denmark, in 2004 evaluated the effects of Zeatin on cultured human skin fibroblasts over their life span in lab culture.  The results showed that not only does Zeatin not interfere to with the genetic control of cellular life span of a cell, but that it also helps promote small cell size, a key component to more youthful skin.   Zeatin also helps with the structural and functional integrity of the cell, and prevents accumulation of macromolecular damage in the cell.  The study also found that Zeatin increases the activity of some antioxidant enzymes counteracting the free radical-induced oxidative damage incurred during cell aging. By preventing damage, antioxidants allow your skin to focus on building new collagen and other tasks (such as getting rid of old skin cells) that keep it looking young.

Dr. Monica Marcu, Pharm. PhD, concurs, “Cytokinins have proven to delay biochemical modifications associated with aging in culture human cells.  Zeatin protects the skin. When human skin cells are nourished with Zeatin, they retain their functions longer and are more resistant to environmental stresses.”

Found in most plants, Zeatin is more abundant in one plant than any other, Moringa Oleifera. Moringa Oleifera not only contains thousands of times more Zeatin than any other known plant, it is also the most nutritious plant discovered to date with over 90 nutritional compounds, including 46 antioxidants and 36 anti-inflammatories.

Dr. Lydia Marero, of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), also believes Moringa could be the new anti-aging alternative.   Dr. Marero says, “Because of its high content of vitamins A, C, and E, which are very potent antioxidants, Moringa is a very good quencher of unstable free radicals that can react with the damage of molecules that cause aging”.

Aging of the skin is not the only result of skin damage.  Skin cancer rates and deaths are increasing dramatically around the world.  One in five Americans will develop skin cancer during their lifetime, and one American dies from it every hour.

This may be in part due to ozone depletion which seems to be leaving us more vulnerable to damage from ultraviolet (UV) radiation.  This radiation causes formation of highly reactive “free radicals” within our bodies, damaging our cells in ways that increase the chance for cancer to develop. The best defense against the free radical damage ofoxidation is a diet rich in antioxidant vitamins and minerals (and plenty of water!). Research suggests that certain antioxidants—vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, and vitamin A (in the form of beta carotene rich foods)—nourish and protect skin to extend its youthful appearance.  According to Karen Collins, RD, along with sun protection, a healthy diet may help.  She further stated, “In theory, antioxidants like beta-carotene and other carotenoids might stabilize free radicals and end the damaging chain reactions they start.”

Underneath aging and age-related disease is low-grade inflammation, according to dermatologist Nicholas V. Perricone, MD.  He continues, “The skin is always getting inflamed by sun, weather, pollution, and products because it is our interface between
the environment and our body.  So the best ways to decrease disease risk and slow the aging process is to take nutrients with powerful anti-inflammatory activity on a regular basis.  Through a three-tier approach involving diet, supplements, and creams, we can control the rate at which we age”.   Combining a good diet with the right dietary supplement will not only help keep your skin healthy, but also looking years younger.

While the skin is the largest system of the body and requires proper nourishment to delay the visible signs of aging, aging isn’t just skin deep.  Every system, that is every cell of the body, ages every minute of every day.  There is no magic fountain of youth.  However, by providing proper nourishment, along with antioxidants with anti-aging compounds at the cellular level, anti-aging of all systems of the body can be slowed; minimizing the visible signs of aging skin and lowering the risk of degenerative (age related) diseases.

Obesity and Health

Under-nourishment and over-eating, both have harmful consequences on the health of the individual”
Ditta B. Sambou, Belfort State Clinic

State of the World 2000, published by World watch Institute, reports that the number of people who are overfed and undernourished (a staggering 1.2 billion) now equals the number of those who are starving from from lack of food.

Obese people are at greater risk for serious conditions like diabetes and heart disease—not to mention the social stigma associated with being larger than their peers.
While most people believe that they gain weight due to heredity, eating too much, or because of aging, the major reasons people gain weight include:

High Fructose Corn Syrup - Obesity in America is at epidemic proportions, with 75% of the population expected to be overweight by 2015.  Studies have shown that the obesity rates in the US exactly follow the trend and time line of the introduction of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) into our diet. Between 1970 and 1990 consumption increased by more than 1000% mostly due to the sot drink manufaturers switching to HFCS as their sweetnener. A 2004 report showed that Americans eat 132 calories of HFCS every day with the figure closer to 300 calories for the top 20 of people.  HFCS is chemically altered corn starch that is in just about everything we eat.  It is added to food for two reasons: one, to lower the cost, and the other to bulk up the food so the consumer thinks he is getting more for his money.  However,the body doesn’t recognize chemically altered products and either flushes them out of the body or stores them as fat. HFCS also blocks the absorption of nutrients from the food it is in. HFCS is banned in Great Britain and is soon to be banned in Europe.  Unlike other carbohydrates, the main sweetener in beverages — high-fructose corn syrup — does not spur production of insulin to make the body “process” calories. It also does not spur leptin, a substance that helps moderate appetite. For these reasons, beverages are not as satisfying as foods containing similar amounts of calories and fly under the radar of the body’s normal weight-regulating mechanisms.  According to New York University biologist Marion Nestle, an expert on nutrition and food policy, “If I were advising someone to lose weight, I’d start with soft drinks and juice drinks. Get rid of them.”   The reason behind that recommendation is soft drinks and juice drinks contain HFCS.   Dr. Terrill Bravender concurs.  According to Dr. Bravender, pediatric obesity specialist at Duke University, Durham, NC, “The average person gets 10% of their total calories from sugared beverages, with 7.5 % from sodas. By cutting out sodas, the average person would lose two pounds a month.”
 
Nutrient deficiency - Most people eat too much cooked, processed and nutrient deficient food.  In fact, we Americans are the most overfed and under-nourished people in the world! According to one pharmacist, “I see a lot of overweight people who are all malnourished”. When you eat nutrient-deficient food, your stomach may be full, but your body continues to send out the ‘I’m hungry’ signal. This leads to overeating and weight gain.
Changes in body composition - As people age, they gradually lose lean muscle mass and develop more fat, a process known as sarcopenia. Poor food choices and lack of exercise can accelerate this condition. This is significant because it takes between 25 and 50 calories per day to maintain a pound of lean muscle, whereas it only takes whereas it only takes 2 calories per day to maintain a pound of fat. Over time, this means that the body processes fewer and fewer calories, which in turn leads to weight gain.
According to their BMIs, two-thirds of adult American women fall into the overweight or obese category. A 2007 report from the Centers for Disease Control found that the prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults doubled between 1980 and 2004. Compared to women of a generation ago, we’re 24 pounds heavier on average, and there’s been an especially alarming increase in those at the upper end of the scale (not just obese, defined as a BMI of 30 or higher, but significantly obese, with a BMI above 35).  High BMIs are associated with increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, some cancers and heart problems. According to Nancy Snyderman, MD, medical consultant for NBC, more people will die from obesity by mid century than from all cancers combined.

Dr. Walter C. Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health, stated at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,being obese is currently associated with about 14 percent of cancer deaths in men and 20 percent in women, compared with about 30 percent each for smoking. He continued saying research is producing increasing evidence associating obesity with a variety of cancers, including breast, colorectal, liver, pancreas and gallbladder.

Recently researchers analyzed a variety of published medical reports on obesity from 1980 to 2005 plus World Health Organization data, and concluded that the prevalence of childhood obesity increased in almost all the countries for which data was available; a trend fueled by among other factors, more sedentary lives and the increasing availability of junk food.

According to Dr. Richard, Carmona, former US surgeon general and currently chairing the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent Obesity Alliance, “the rise in childhood obesity coincides with the rise in related conditions such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure”. He continued, “these are middle aged diseases, and we are seeing them in elementary children”.

The public health consequences of the trend alarm experts, says Dr. Phillip Thomas, a surgeon who works with obese patients.  Because obese children tend to carry the problem into adulthood, Thomas and other doctors say they will be sicker as they get older, suffering from degenerative diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and other ailments stemming from their weight.   Dr. Thomas continued, “This is going to be the first generation that’s going to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents”.


Health Foods

By definition, health foods are foods believed to be highly beneficial to health, especially a food grown organically and free of chemicals.

In  2005, almost two-thirds of American consumers bought some type of organic food or beverage.   Why buy organic? In the past we only had to wash a little dirt off our produce in order to feel we were eating clean food.  Now, however, we have to worry about hormones, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and genetic  modification.

According to government research, an apple can have as many as 36 different pesticides sprayed on it. Organically grown translates to cleaner water and air due to farming methods that rely on natural pest control.

Having bad health affects not only ourselves, but those we love as well. Organic means healthier environments, healthier communities, and healthier families.

Moringa couldn’t fit the definition of a health food any better than if it had been written for it, as Moringa ysp Tea base ingredient, Moringa, is not only organically grown and tested to be free of chemicals; is also not irradiated.  Moringa Tea delivers synergy. Synergy means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Moringa is the only enzymatically ALIVE beverage on the market.
With Moringa, it almost doesn’t matter what nutrients your body is lacking; because with the 90+ nutrients naturally occurring in Moringa, you’re going to get them.  The vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and omega-3 oils are just the beginning of the phytonutrientsfound in Moringa.

Moringa also gives you Z-Atin, the stimulant- free natural trigger for your metabolism that launches your body into absorption mode.  Moringa has been formulated to provide you with the highest degree of effective absorbability. The Moringa is organically grown, shade dried and powdered to maintain the maximum nutritive value, and is tested to be pesticide free.  Give your body the nutritional nudge it needs with a healthy food supplement.

Moringa Tea

Formulated to provide you with highest degree of effective absorbability (bioavailability)

The nourishment found in Moringa includes:

• Active Adults: on-the-go lifestyle. Working 8-10 hours a day and trying to keep up with other activities.
• Senior Adults: lessened ability to absorb nutrients, lower metabolism, and less energy.
• Children: hard to get them to eat right even if you cook healthy food for them; they often snub vegetables.
• Parents: no time to think about their own nutrition; too busy.
• Teenagers: immortal attitude, don’t think about and don’t care about what fast food does to them; not worried about the future.
• Athletes: need extra protein and other nutrients for their training regimen.
• Travelers: fatigue; most meals are fast food.
• Overweight But Undernourished: even when food is plentiful, it doesn’t always provide proper nutrition.
• Vegetarians: sometimes it’s hard to get the right kind of protein in the right amounts.
• Lactating Mothers: Moringa has been shown to increase milk supply.

Every-Body Needs Moringa

“Let your Foods be your medicines, and your medicines your food.”
Hippocrates c.460 – 377 BC
Father of Modern Medicine

MORINGA Improves the effectiveness of balanced nutrients in the body including the treasure trove of nutrients you’re already getting just by drinking Moringa YSP.  Moringa YSP literally sets your nutritional process in motion. Created by one of the world’s foremost nutritionist,  Moringa YSP is the perfect balanced, natural combination of zeatin, quercetin, beta-sitosterol, caffeoylquinic acid, and kaempferol, naturally found in Moringa Oleifera.

Each one of Moringa’s components has its own benefits. Moringa ysp uses just the right amount of each natural ingredient to maximize the effect of the herbal medicine. Combined, they work synergistically to trigger your metabolism for real nutrient absorption.

Zeatin

A supreme antioxidant with powerful anti-aging properties, zeatin is becoming more and more sought after.  Zeatin defends cells against free radical damage and protects healthy cells during life’s stresses.  The way it helps to slow the aging process is by helping the body replace dying cells more rapidly while fortifying living cells.  It can also help promote normal brain and neuronal function and transmissions.  So, it’s no surprise zeatin is being tested for it positive effect on various conditions.  Nowhere can you find a greater abundance of zeatin than in the Moringa plant.  In fact, Moringa has several thousand times more zeatin than any other known plant.

Quercetin

The quercetin in Moringa YSP is a vital flavonoid with antioxidant properties.  It is one of the best naturally occurring anti-inflammatory agents available, and is currently being tested at the Mayo Clinic in the treatment of certain types of conditions.  Quercetin can improve the function of the body’s capillaries and connective tissues, alleviating bruising while promoting healthy veins and arteries.  In addition, quercetin improves the body’s absorption of vitamin C and has anti-viral properties that minimize the symptoms of respiratory and sinus problems.  This potent flavonoid also helps to maintain your body’s collagen, which keeps skin firm and healthy.

Beta-Sitosterol

We all know someone with a cholesterol problem.  Beta-sitosterol is the component in
Moringa YSP that can help. Because it’s part of the sterol family, beta-sitosterol’s structure is similar enough to that of cholesterol that it can trick the body into blocking “bad” cholesterol absorption from food. Beta-sitosterol also normalizes blood sugar, enhances the immune system, and acts as a supreme anti-inflammatory agent.

Caffeoylquinic Acid

Mother Nature also provided caffeoylquinic acid and kaempferol to Moringa and these are included in Moringa YSP proprietary formula.   Caffeoylquinic acid exhibits significant anti-inflammatory activity and kaempferol is proven to encourage health cell growth and function.

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Original post: http://leafpower.wordpress.com/moringa-benefits/