Archive for the 'Fitness and Health Professionals' Category

God’s Pharmacy - The Value of Certain Fruits and Veggies

I found this listing of the tremendous value of 12 fruits and vegetables. The author is unknown. Thanks to Cathy Morenzie for posting it on her Active Image site. Enjoy!

Then God said, “Let the land burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant. And let there be trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. The seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And so it was. Genesis 1:11

Carrots

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye…and YES science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

tomatoes
A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart is red and has four chambers. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Walnut
A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Avocadoes
Eggplant, Avocados and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today’s research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? …. It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs
Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the motility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm cells to overcome male sterility.

sweet potatoes
Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

MyPyramid.gov is one of the better government sites that provides education on the health benefits and nutrients received from eating the right amount of fruits and vegetables.

Eat your fruits and veggies daily! God certainly had a plan and knew what He was doing when He designed them for our health.

View the complete listing at God’s Pharmacy.

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Conference of the Society for Spirituality, Theology and Health

This week I was fortunate to attend the first international conference of the Society for Spiritual Exercises Poster Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke University in Durham, NC. The theme of the conference was “Spirituality, Health and Human Flourishing: Meaning? Measurement? Implications?”

The leaders of the research in this field were present. In addition to the keynote addresses and plenary sessions, there were approximately 60 poster presentations and 40 papers presented. If you’re interested in viewing the major presentations you can check back at their site as there will be videos available.

I was fortunate to present a poster titled “A Spiritual Fitness Assessment and 18 Spiritual Exercises.” It was a blessing to interact with many of the 250 attendees of the conference and to have dialog with those who viewed my poster.

Fletcher and KoenigTwo leaders of the field were present, Harold Koenig, MD and Jeff Levin, PhD. Having the opportunity to speak with each of them was a treat. I’ve included a photo of me and Harold Koenig. Jeff Levin urged the participants to explore the concept of human flourishing.

I left the conference inspired to roll up my sleeves even further to better understand the spirituality/religion and health relationship and to share with others what I learn. Benefits of membership in the society can be found at this link.

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“Living By Design…” A Terrific Read

Living by Design… Discovering the Spirit, Soul and Body Connection is what I’m currently reading.Living By Design Ray Strand, MD and Bill Ewing, a Christian counselor, do a terrific job of explaining how God designed us and how our bodies function when we are under the stressors of life. The book, based on Biblical principles, points us to peace, love and possibly better emotional and physical health.

Here are chapter highlights:

  • Stress and the body
  • Unresolved anger
  • Motivation of the heart
  • Rest for the soul, power for life
  • Exercise and diet
  • Oxidative stress, free radicals and the need for nutritional supplements
  • Healing God’s way
  • An eternal perspective

If you know of someone who might have a chronic degenerative disease, inflammatory-related disease, panic attacks or another stress-related condition, this book would be a wonderful gift for them. I highly recommend it!

Have an awesome day!

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A Holy & Healthy Resource on the Web

Today I came across a great resource I wanted you to know about. Clergy UMC  Two years ago the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church made a commitment to provide more resources for their clergy and congregations and communities. One thing they did was to contract with an agency for the web site Holy Healthy UMC. It provides wonderful and accurate information on Spirit, Mind & Body health from a Christian perspective.  If your looking for an example of a  site that covers all the basis, this might be amongst the best I have seen! Kudos to the developers of the site and for the Arkansas Conference in making this resource available.

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Lifting Up the C in the YMCA

I feel refreshed!!Janelle at John 17 21

Thanks to all the people who worked hard to put on a great John 17:21 Conference in Indianapolis for about 230 YMCA employees throughout the world. I attended this conference from Nov. 8-10 so that I could share with the attendees how I can assist them in serving their members and staff.

The YMCA’s mission is to put Christian principles into practice through programs that help build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. The attendees were assembled to be encouraged in their efforts to accomplish this mission at their respective branches. I feel fortunate to have met so many great people with a heart to serve others. I also established what I hope will be some long lasting friendships.

To all the attendees who were there for the last session…..Love you!

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Whole-Person Health

When we know the healer and receive His love and know and believe who we are in Him, we can be set free!

Earlier today I spent an hour on the phone with a wise, gentle man, Dan Fountain, M.D.. In his career he has spent many years in Africa, caring for people of the Congo, attending to their “whole person” needs. He shared with me several accounts of how people would come to him with various illnesses and diseases. Time and time again, when he and his staff would take the time to care for their spirit, these people’s physical health improved dramatically. He shared that when these people were “cleaned out on the inside” they were more healthy on the outside(physically).

Dan is now educating and training pastoral care staff and the medical community on how to care for the whole person, using a Biblical approach. He uses Psalm 139:23-24 as a sort of “Spiritual MRI” when he ministers to individuals. So many of us, he notes, have things in our past that are unresolved and impact in a negative way on our emotional health and subsequently on our physical health. He trains laypeople how to walk a person through their past to identify issues that impact on their health. Then, in a loving and caring way, these laypeople are able to guide persons through a process which restores their health. They share about the love of Jesus and how God sent His son to help us to be totally free and whole.

If you’re in the health profession and have experience in providing this sort of ministry to the people you serve, I’d love to hear from you and about your experiences.

For those of us who have experienced God’s love in a very personal way, and have experienced inner healing through His love, I think He wants us to share that with others… so that others can experience the same kind of freedom, and wholeness.

Is your physical health affected by what’s been ‘eating at you’ on the inside? You can be free from that and enjoy improved physical health. Read Psalm 139 and ask Jesus to point out anything that might be impacting on your spiritual or emotional health…. and ask Him to free you completely from this burden or pain. He will if you ask Him deep in your heart! If you do not know Jesus in a personal and meaningful way, visit with a local pastor at a church or a trusted friend who you believe to be a Christian, a follower of Christ. If you’re not sure about doing either of those things, send me an email and I’ll share my insights with you.

Have a wonderful day!

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Study - Friends Can Make You Fat

The July 25th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine contains an article about the influence our friends can have on our body weight. When a person becomes obese, his/her friends and siblings are likely to gain weight as well. The researchers believe that this may be due to the fact that friends may subconsciously share ideas about what constitutes a healthy weight. They found that when a person becomes obese, the chances that a friend will become obese increases by 57 percent. Siblings of obese people have a 40 percent increased risk of obesity, and their spouses’ risk increased by 37 percent. Here is a link to an MSNBC article on the research.

We should be aware of the influence that our friends have on us. If you are trying to lose weight and have close friends who are overweight or obese, the social influences that are involved in the relationship could be hampering your efforts. On the other hand, the research suggests that if your friends are a healthy weight, the opposite could occur- similar dynamics could be helping you.

The philosophy that we should choose our friends wisely may have some applications in this regard. Just be on your toes and be aware of the impact that your friendships may be having on your health.

On the last day of July… I pray that you are in good health.

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Back to Running My Race

It was 93 degrees and humid… sweat was dripping down my forehead and into my eyes… the kind of sweat that is salty - and it stung… but it was all good. Today was my first run in more than 6 weeks. In the last 40 years I can probably count on one hand the number of weeks that I have not gotten a run in. Six weeks seemed like a lifetime.

I was able to run because today I met with my Urologist for a 6-week-post surgery checkup and he cleared me for unrestricted exercise and physical activity. I am a runner at heart so I wanted to celebrate this news with a run right away. It didn’t matter that when I arrived home it was the hottest part of the day and very humid. I am sure that you runners will be able to relate to this. When you are accustomed to regular exercise and it is taken away from you for any reason, it can be a challenge. I have been able to take brisk walks for the last month but it’s not like going for a good run!

Recovery from the prostate surgery is going well all in all. The next medical checkup will be a PSA check in late August- 3 months post-surgery to ensure that it is a zero reading confirming that there is no remaining cancer.

Over the last week, when I talk with my family and friends they tell me that they can tell that my voice is stronger. The voice exercises for the paralyzed vocal cord seem to be making a difference. Praise God!!!

It is good to be back to “running my race!”

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