TriVita Tips

 

TriVita – 10 Essentials for Health and Wellness 

  

Breathe Deeply – Inhale life fully, cleanse your body of toxins and feel calm.

Drink Water  – As you quench your thirst for water, you also boost your energy.

 

Sleep Peacefully - Rest, repair, rejuvenate: a regular sleep routine lets your body do its work.

Eat Nutritiously - Choose healthy, wholesome foods to fuel a healthy body and mind.

 

 

  

Develop Acceptance – Releasing what you can’t change frees you from worry and enriches your life.

Develop a Relationship with God - 

Nourish your spirituality to nourish personal growth and happiness.

  

 

 

 

TriVita’s Weekly Wellness Report
	by Brazos Minshew, TriVita’s Chief Science Officer

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Answers to Your Nopalea Questions

  

With a new product comes questions about why, when and how to use it. The more popular the product is, the more frequently the questions are repeated. In this Weekly Wellness Report I have attempted to answer some of the more common questions about this wonderful anti-inflammatory product.

How much sugar, salt and iron are in Nopalea?
Nopalea™ contains NO ADDED SUGAR. It is naturally sweet. Yet it is still low-calorie and low-carbohydrate. Interestingly, the calories and carbohydrates will change from batch to batch depending on the harvest. Nopalea is “wildcrafted,” meaning that Nopalea is not cultivated, and no fertilizers, pesticides or chemicals of any kind are ever used – ever! It is harvested from the Sonoran Desert by natives just as it has been for thousands of years. Since it is not cultivated, the concentration of sugars and minerals in the plant change depending on how much rain we have that year. The label will accurately reflect the concentration of constituents for that harvest.

One challenge is that Nopalea is the first product of its kind. Therefore, no “standards” data existed before we created them. So, label changes happen because we created the testing standards to accurately measure the rare and powerful constituents of Nopalea.

Will Nopalea interfere with my medications?
Your physician and pharmacist know you best – ask them! We will say this: With over 200 papers published on the benefits of the Nopal cactus superfruit in human health, we have not found even one negative reaction or drug interaction. The only caution we discovered concerns the blood-thinner warfarin (Coumadin).

If you take warfarin you need to speak with your pharmacist. Nopalea is a fruit juice. In rare instances, people on warfarin will be restricted from consuming fruit juices for a short time while their medication stabilizes. Only your physician and pharmacist know if you should be restricted from fruit juices at this time, so ask them before you take it. But we have not found a single instance of drug interaction in the medical literature; Nopalea should be very safe.

How much Nopalea can I take in a day?
The label recommends one to three ounces daily. This is based on minimum amounts in otherwise healthy people. However, the greater the level of your inflammation, the more anti-inflammatory strategies you will need. That makes sense, doesn’t it? You wouldn’t want to quench a forest fire with a single bucket of water!

One Member was experiencing a flare-up of a rheumatoid disorder. She had taken many remedies – prescription and non-prescription – and had seen chiropractors, acupuncturists and massage therapists. She had been in an unbroken cycle of pain for 18 months. She took additional ounces daily and broke the cycle of inflammation and pain in about three weeks. She continues to take it daily with no known adverse effects. And she is pain free.

In the early pilot trials of Nopalea we gave our test subjects 16 ounces daily. Not only did they not experience any known negative effects, their blood work universally improved.

Conclusion
So many of the maladies we suffer from today are related to inflammation. Nopalea contains Betalains; Betalains quench inflammation. Testimonials from around North America report amazing improvement in well-being with Nopalea. Science from around the world details the astounding health benefits from Betalains found in the Nopal cactus. Both scientific and empirical reports tell us that Nopalea is safe and effective in promoting wellness. Enjoy Nopalea often. I promise: we won’t run out!

Take Control of Your Health Use Nopalea to help reduce inflammation and detoxify Practice the 10 Essentials each day Breathe Deeply Drink Water Sleep Peacefully Eat Nutritiously Enjoy Activity Give and Receive Love Be Forgiving Practice Gratitude Develop Acceptance Develop a Relationship with God Create a nutrient base with Healthy Aging supplements: VitaDaily AM/PM™ Sublingual B-12 Vital C OmegaPrime®

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Homocysteine, Genetics & Vitamins

Homocysteine (HCY) is a tool used by your body to modify protein. Specifically, homocysteine carves up the amino acid methionine into smaller amino acids. Each of these amino acids has important functions.

The “leftovers” from this construction project are not thrown away. Instead, your body recombines the debris back into methionine again.Methionine is the protein that serves as the foundation for all other proteins.

It’s like concrete: You can build a small cottage or a large skyscraper on the same concrete foundation. You can build brain cells, heart cells, bone cells, and healthy cells for your entire body on the protein methionine.

Homocysteine is responsible for crafting that foundation. While homocysteine is an excellent tool for your body, too much of it can be fatal. 

 

It’s in the genes

There is a common gene defect among people in North America. It is called an MTHFR defect. It allows homocysteine to escape into the bloodstream and literally shred your arteries, causing a stroke; tangle your brain cells causing Alzheimer’s disease; shatter your bones causing osteoporosis; and inflame your heart, causing a heart attack.Another common genetic defect is MTHFD. It allows homocysteine to run amok inside your cells. This can lead to cell mutations and even cancer.

What an elegant, yet destructive element homocysteine can prove to be! How can we modify homocysteine and harness its constructive power while protecting against its destructive rampage?

The answer is found in Vital Amines.

A tale of two families

Vital Amines are active enzymes in your blood, organs, and even inside your cells. You may know them by their shortened name – vitamins! In the world of “B” vitamins there are two families:

 

1. The MTHFR family

a. B-12
b. Folic acid
c. B-6
d. Biotin

2. The MTHFD family

a. Riboflavin
b. B-1
c. Niacin
d. Pantothenic acid

Elevated homocysteine can be caused by genetics or poor nutrition. When a person has an active genetic defect they require intense nutrition to offset the imbalance caused by the gene mutation. Supplemental nutrition is very effective in most cases. TriVita’s HCY Guard® was designed specifically for high HCY. One study on TriVita’s HCY Guard found that HCY levels could be reduced by 35% in just 6 weeks!

Vital amines such as the Riboflavin family of B vitamins combine with antioxidants to help reduce the activity of cellular homocysteine. One study found that the specific antioxidant ECGC (the antioxidant found in green tea) stopped the trigger DNMT (an enzyme) from releasing homocysteine inside the cell. People consuming large amounts of ECGC have reduced DNMT and have fewer cases of cancer.

Riboflavin and ECGC are both found in Energy Now!®. In fact, just as TriVita’s Sublingual B-12 and HCY Guard supplements contain the B-12 family of B vitamins, Energy Now! contains the complementary Riboflavin family of B vitamins. They work together to form a perfect B complex that helps your body reduce homocysteine.

Are you at risk?
Is there a way to tell if you have one of these common disease risks? Yes; one way is to have a genetic test performed. This is usually done by drawing enough blood to collect DNA and submitting this to one of only a few labs in North America that can perform genetic testing. A second way is to have your homocysteine levels tested. This can be performed by most medical laboratories. Ask your doctor to do this test with your annual physical.

Another indicator of elevated homocysteine is your own family tree. Does any “first-degree” relative (father, mother, brother, or sister) have any of the conditions attributed to homocysteine? If so, you likely have the gene defect. Does a “second-degree” relative (grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins) have any of the conditions attributed to homocysteine? If so, you may have the gene defect as well.

Did you know nutrient deficiencies can mimic a genetic defect by failing to provide the minimum amount of vital amines necessary to prevent elevated homocysteine? A poor diet, illness, pregnancy, aging, and stress can place you at risk for elevated HCY. Children and adults with asthma and irritable bowel syndrome are at high risk for elevated HCY.

Lowering your homocysteine

 

High HCY in your blood is linked to serious illness. Helping your body reduce high HCY may greatly reduce your risk for serious illness. These actions will also help:

• Eat fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants – 5 servings daily for children, 7 servings for women, and 9 servings for men.
• Reduce your stress load.
• Get at least 30 minutes of vigorous activity every day.
• Supplement your diet with nutrients such as TriVita’s HCY Guard and Energy Now!.
• Defeat stress by nurturing your spirit with healthy relationships and a healthy sense of purpose.

Remember, genes are not fate; you have as much control over your genes (through nutrients and nurturing) as they have over you. Build a healthy foundation for your future by balancing your homocysteine.

  

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Regain Energy with Healthy Habits

www.trivita.com/13308664

A full 85% of the people I saw in clinical practice shared the same complaint: fatigue. People feel tired. What are the reasons for the epidemic of fatigue? What are some strategies for coping with low energy? What mindset may help us change the course of relentless fatigue before it is too late?

The message of fatigue

Feeling tired is a communication sent by our body to our consciousness telling us we need to rest – just as hunger is the feeling we get when we need to eat. Learning to listen to these messages will help us achieve and maintain optimum health. Listening to fatigue by resting is at the heart of Essential #3: Sleep Peacefully. Typically, a good night’s sleep will erase fatigue (it may take several nights). Cultivating the habit of sleeping 7 ½ to 9 hours every night – depending on our level of fatigue – will ensure that we feel fresh at almost any time and also help us have a healthier immune system.

We especially need rest:

• If our immune system is fighting an infection or trying to balance itself in an autoimmune condition
• After an injury or exposure to a toxin from outside or inside our body
• If we have deficiencies of water, oxygen or certain nutrients such as Vitamin B-12
• When experiencing the overwhelming tiredness that comes with emotional distress

We experience chronic fatigue when resting doesn’t relieve our feelings of exhaustion. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is diagnosed when symptoms persist for more than six months. CFS is often a sign that we have pushed ourselves too hard for too long: we have been so deficient, so toxic and so stressed that we have collapsed our ability to cope with even daily demands. Our immune system and our nervous system are so damaged in CFS that they may take years to repair – if healing is even possible.

Coping strategies

 

We have a marvelous function inside us called homeostasis. This interesting word describes the struggle of maintaining balance. Just as an acrobat on the high wire appears to be still or motionless (stasis), our internal chemistry appears to be balanced every single moment of every single day with amazing consistency. We can’t see the effort the acrobat must contribute to maintain balance but we know intuitively that it must be extreme. Now, imagine the extra stress of wind, temperature, humidity, air quality, light and noise from the outside world. Next, imagine the added stress of low oxygen, dehydration, poor sleep, incomplete nutrition and lack of appropriate fitness. There are many, many elements trying to pull the acrobat off the wire just as there are many, many elements pulling you down as well. Homeostasis describes the extreme effort of your body, mind and spirit every moment to keep you balanced.

Fatigue is a sign of failure of the homeostasis mechanism. It is the message to stop what you are doing and attend to yourself for fear of falling off the high wire, so to speak. The 10 Essentials for Health and Wellness are the tools that put you back in balance. They combat fatigue and help you develop a rhythm of energy that can be sustained every day. Set a pace in life that can be maintained indefinitely. Nourish and nurture yourself with the 10 Essentials to support homeostasis and erase fatigue.

Change your mindset

The era we live in is called “post-industrial revolution.” It describes a cadence in life that is more appropriate for machines, not for humans. Machines don’t get tired – people do! If we are to hear the message of fatigue and respond appropriately, we simply must learn to listen as humans, not machines. We need to resist many of the stresses of modern life. We need to embrace the mindset that people are more important than things.

People matter! Learn the rules of nourishment and nurturing that govern human health and place these as a priority in your daily life. Make sure you are cared for first and then you will be in a position to care for all of your duties, responsibilities, obligations and commitments. Learn to listen to the message of fatigue before you run out of energy. Value the amazing gift of homeostasis by living a life of balance.

This change of mindset is the first step to erasing fatigue.

  

 

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Lose a Little Weight… Gain a Lot of Health Benefits

 

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

Setting and achieving worthwhile goals is the key to lasting happiness. Some goals seem so large that they must be comparable to eating an elephant – just too big to even know how to begin. Weight loss can be that challenging for many. Looking at the BMI chart and knowing how far you have to go can be discouraging. There is good news, though. Losing just a little can have profound health benefits.

How to eat an elephant

I want to make a suggestion that I have seen work countless times: If you are overweight or obese, set a goal to lose only 10% of your body weight. That’s all – just 10%. Meeting this goal will give you most of the health benefits and much of the energy you will need to improve your life substantially.

It is often said that weight loss is simple, just not easy. Many experts tout the “calories in – calories out” formula as if it were Holy Scripture. I first heard this as the prescription for weight loss when I was a teenager. Now, here I am well over 50 years of age and I still hear it almost daily. In those intervening decades we have experienced an explosion of obesity. So, merely repeating the same formula over and over is clearly not working!

What does work?

Purpose!
Purpose works because it ignites passion. Purpose defines the reason for effort – for example, the reason we want to lose weight – while passion translates that sense of purpose into motion. Granted, some people want weight loss for reasons that do not require much passion. Cosmetic weight loss may be one example and disease prevention may be another.

Purpose requires a plan. In a previous Weekly Wellness Report I detailed how we set “SMART” goals:

• Specific
• Measureable
• Attainable
• Realistic
• Timely

Take that sense of purpose fueled by your passion and structure a plan that will help you accomplish your mission.

Purpose, passion, plan and mission are successful strategies when it comes to weight loss. We have seen this time and again. Now, this is not as simple as “calories in – calories out.” But it is easy. And it works with the way we function as human beings: with purpose!

Remember, the elephant you are trying to eat, so to speak, is not weight loss itself. Trimming down gives you more energy to do the things that matter to you the most. Weight loss is a means to an end: a means to living a life of purpose. So, as a milestone on your goal toward a life of purpose, set a 10% reduction in weight as a SMART goal. Use a body composition scale to make sure that you are losing only fat, not lean tissue like muscles, bones and brain. You will need those as assets in your journey.

Our Leanology^® body-composition program was thoroughly reviewed in an Arizona State University study. Researchers found that with Leanology, 100% of the weight loss came from fat – none from vital, energy-producing organs.

Maintain balance

So, do you know how to eat an elephant? The answer is still “one bite at a time,” only now we see that there must be a valid reason for eating the elephant in the first place! Don’t try to eat the elephant all at once and don’t try to do it alone. Purpose, passion, plan and mission are the stuff of life. Yet, life is about balance. As humans, we Love, we Play, we Work and we Worship. Our manner of life should reflect these priorities.

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