Q: My doctor says I have high cholesterol. What can I do to lower it?
A: There are several components to a “lipid profile” – total cholesterol, LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, HDL (“good”) cholesterol and triglycerides. If your physician is telling you that you have “high cholesterol,” he is referring to either the total cholesterol number, your LDL reading or both. A desirable profile is as follows:
Total cholesterol <200 mg/dl
LDL cholesterol <130 mg/dl
HDL cholesterol >40 mg/dl (>50 mg/dl for women)
Triglyceride level <150 mg/dl
Cholesterol is a component of animal cell membranes and is not found in plant-based foods. It is necessary in the body for the production of bile, which helps digest fats, and steroid hormones (e.g. vitamin D, estrogen and testosterone). While the body utilizes cholesterol for important functions, the liver is also able to synthesize necessary amounts – it is not necessary to ingest it as part of your diet! Total cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride levels that are too high put you at risk for cardiovascular disease.
Let’s focus on LDL cholesterol, since it has been linked to atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke. Several factors influence LDL levels, including age, diabetes, obesity, reduced estrogen levels and diet. Diets high in saturated fat and cholesterol elevate LDL. In addition, trans-fats can raise LDL and lower HDL (“good”) cholesterol – a double whammy!
Lower your saturated fat intake! Saturated fat intake has a much greater negative effect on blood cholesterol than does dietary cholesterol. (Dietary cholesterol, however, is often found in the same foods that are high in saturated fat.) Choose lean meats, select skim milk, low-fat dairy products and stick to vegetable oils that are liquid at room temperature (e.g. cook with olive or canola oil, rather than butter or lard.) To further cut back on fat intake, remove the skin from chicken before eating, and grill or bake fish, meat and poultry instead of frying.
Eat a minimum amount of trans-fat. Select products that are made with no . Check the ingredient list before buying!!
Lastly, up your intake of viscous or . Choose more fruits, vegetables, beans and , especially barley and oats.
While there are several ways to manage blood cholesterol levels with medication, try modifying your diet first. Just a 1-point decrease in your LDL cholesterol level corresponds to a 1-2% decrease in your risk for developing coronary heart disease!
We have been chatting for just under 2 years. I am muslimah revert of 7 years, divorced with 2 little girls, he is 10 years younger than I, never been married. He is very good muslim man as far as I can tell, alhamdullah, our conversation is based around Islam and its practices, he has helped me a great deal, alhamdullah. He has also asked me if he cannot come to Jordan would I travel into Palestine for the marriage. I have been (just 3 days ago) diagnosed with HCV and have informed him of this, he is willing to enter in this marriage anyway. I honestly am head over heals with this guy and the impression I get from him is that he feels the same way as me, but I cannot be sure. I have been completely honest with this man, he says I am his first love. I am just unsure.....HELP......please some outside insight would be appreciated.
An atheroma is an accumulation and swelling in artery walls that is made up of cells, or cell debris, that contain lipids, cholesterol and fatty acids, calcium and a variable amount of fibrous connective tissue. In the context of heart or artery matters, atheromata are commonly referred to as atheromatous plaques. It is an unhealthy condition, but is found in most humans.
The plaque usually begins to accumulate in some children younger than one year of age, and by the time we reach adulthood; every single human has accumulated a substantial amount of plaque in their arteries. If left unchecked, this continual buildup in the arteries will restrict the arterial vessels leading to the heart, and result in heart disease, the number one killer in America.
The drug companies have capitalized on this by developing cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins that they claim will lower our levels of cholesterol which, they say, will decrease our chances of getting heart disease later in life.
As we have shown you in our January, 2008 Newsletter “Cholesterol-Lowering drugs called into question again” (http://brianpeskin.com/newsletters/01cholesterol08.pdf), the claims that the drug companies have been making is simply not true. And rather than helping us to stay healthy, these drugs are making us sicker![1]
In addition to this sickening news, what the popular press and your doctor fail to tell you is that there is already concrete evidence proving that decreasing blood cholesterol through drugs, or by changing your eating habits has no clear correlation to decreasing your chances of getting heart disease! In fact, cholesterol levels in and of themselves are absolutely meaningless. In fact studies performed back in 1964 with a world-renowned heart surgeon on 1,700 patients with heart disease clearly show more heart-related disease with cholesterol between 1 and 250 than between 300 and 400 or higher; the opposite of what we are told! [2]
“Saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet are not the cause of coronary heart disease. That myth is the greatest ‘scientific’ deception of the century, and perhaps any century.” [3]
Basic biochemistry books that the doctors themselves studied during their education clearly states the importance of cholesterol, a steroid produced naturally by the body–in significant quantities–in many of the bodily functions; therefore, it makes absolutely no sense from a medical perspective to take drugs that artificially alter these levels. [4]
Researchers as early as 1936, failed to find a correlation between cholesterol levels and atherosclerotic plaque. [5]
This research was further supported in 1962, when the American Heart Journal published research from Dr. Marek and colleagues who searched for a correlation between cholesterol levels and atherosclerosis. Among 106 cases studied, the level of cholesterol did not affect atherosclerotic changes in plaque. [6]
What your doctor, the drug companies and the misinformed media aren’t telling you is that if there is not enough cholesterol in the cell membrane, the walls lose their rigidity and expand outward, due to the inner pressure of the cell, leading to cell damage, or destruction. [7] Without plenty of cholesterol, you’d be wormlike because of lack of internal structure.
They also do not seem to want you to know that cholesterol is essential for the normal growth and repair of body tissue and that is also the material from which the body makes several important hormones – the adrenal hormones (involved in sugar metabolism, fluid balance, the maintenance of blood pressure, and the preparation of the body for stress) and the male and female sex hormones, testosterone and estrogen. In addition, cholesterol is essential for the normal growth and repair of body tissue, and much more. [8]
To read the rest of this article (and view the references – always an important part of the articles so you can read for yourself the science behind the explanations), please visit the “Science-not-Opinion” e-Newsletter site at http://brianpeskin.com/newsletter-archive.htm and download the entire article, “The Lowdown on Arterial Plaque”, June 2008 (pdf format). At the end of the article you will find a delicious low-carb recipie to tantalize your tastebuds and keep you on the lean-for-life pathway without sacrificing good taste!
What’s all the hype about plant sterols and should they be included in your daily diet?
What is a plant sterol? it is a substance naturally produced by plants that have been found to lower cholesterol and so become a useful food to add to our cholesterol lowering arsenal, along with decreasing saturated fats and increased exercise.
What to plant sterols do? they act to reduce low density lipoprotein (or LDL) cholesterol. This is the “bad” cholesterol that contributes to a narrowing of the arteries that causes heart disease (CVD). Plant sterols can lower total cholesterol by an average of 10%. As plant sterols are very similar in structure to the cholesterol we produce in our bodies, they compete with cholesterol for absorption into the body via the intestine. Instead, the cholesterol is harmlessly excreted and less ends up in the blood stream.
Where are plant sterols found in food? they are found naturally in foods such as:
nuts, seeds and legumes
bread and cereals
fruit and vegetables ( small amounts)
Plant sterol enriched foods are available at your supermarket, so look aout for them next time you go shopping, if you wish to add them to your diet.
So what does it take to get our legislators to eat real food? Take it to them! Last Tuesday was the 4th annual Maryland Independent Consumers and Farmers Association lobby and legislative brunch in Annapolis. At this annual event, Marylanders take food from their farms or from other local farmers and we feed our legislators REAL FOOD. Yes, that’s right, we feed them foods like fresh milk, ice cream made from fresh cream, deviled eggs from pastured chickens, full fat yogurt, chicken salad from pastured chickens and many other homegrown delights.
The brunch is designed to get our independent farmers and consumers connecting directly with their legislators on the issues surrounding food and food choices. Farmers and consumers come together to create a spread of food in one of the office buildings in Annapolis. Farmers stand behind their products, serve the legislators and tell them about where this food came from.
We do this to educate our elected Delegates and Senators and inspire them to create laws that will reduce the regulatory burden on our small farms so that farmers and consumers can engage directly in private sales without bureaucratic interference.
This year, some small-scale pastured poultry farmers met with their legislators to educate them about the regulatory hurdles they must jump in order to sell their delicious, nutritious food. Two legislators immediately offered to sponsor legislation overturning some of those burdens and supporting a reduction in regulations for these farmers. We now have a bill that, when passed, will give farmers the opportunity to sell their poultry at farmers markets making it easier for consumers to get great, pastured poultry. We’ve got a ways to go before the bill is signed into law, but the first steps were taken as farmers and legislators shared a meal in Annapolis.
“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her meat in the summer, [and] gathereth her food in the harvest.
How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.”
Proverbs 6:6-11
There be four [things which are] little upon the earth, but they [are] exceeding wise:
The ants [are] a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;
The conies [are but] a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;
The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;
The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.
Proverbs 30:24-28
In the battle over real food, there are some great truths to be considered, as we look to find principles we can count on. The wisdom of God’s word the Bible, is always trustworthy.
Artificial Food is Slow Poison
When we eat artificial food, food that is processed improperly or just a can of chemicals masquerading as food, we do not fall down and drop dead instantly. It would be better if we did drop dead immediately, then we wouldn’t continue to eat it!
When we ingest these food, often we don’t even feel sick, and we foolishly think that it is having no effect on us at all. We are lulled to sleep like the sluggard.
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.”
We reason, hey, I eat at McDonald’s and I feel OK, or I eat cereal every day, and don’t notice ill effects immediately. This is an insidious snare that comes on many who are deceived by the intoxicating fake food pied piper of Hamlin! Then one day we awake and discover we have Cancer, or a Heart Attack, or Diabetes, and we wonder how we got it. Then we are told - it was genetic??
Artificial Food is Extremely Profitable
There is always a remarkable profit margin built into processed food, that empowers its successful delivery in the stomachs of unwitting eaters. Their enormous profit margin allows for the product to be-
Packaged Beautifully
Marketed Effectively
Developed so it Tastes Good (Chemically Enhanced)
Have the Support of Government, Medical, and Media Outlets
Artificial Food is a Bully!
This mechanism and coordinated efforts from these various agencies keep people misinformed about the true dangers of processed foods, at the same time bullying real food so that the general understanding among Americans is fear and doubt about the safety of real food, and no real concern about the truly dangerous alien food products they consume every day.
Artificial Food has Constructed an Artificial Hierarchy
Human beings by nature are all nutritionists! Dr. Weston Price discovered isolated people groups around the world that had excellent human health due to their wise choices about food. Many of these healthy people could not read nor write, but they were excellent nutritionists! In fact, Dr. Price, considered by many to be the greatest nutrition researcher of all time, was actually taught by the great wisdom developed by these often unlearned folk!
One of the problems in understanding artificial foods and real foods is that men by nature worship education. We are often fooled by Doctors and Government officials who are very learned and have high sounding titles and positions, so that many people conclude, well he must know what he’s talking about, after all, he’s a Doctor
Artificial Worship
Over the 20th century with many advances in technology, people began more and more to trust the so-called scientist, and conclude that ancient understanding was all wrong. Coupled with a concerted effort by those in academia to control that which could be known about food, they have effectively set up a religion, the religion of Fake Food!
We Are In Control of Your Television
Just as the church in the middle ages became very corrupt, and set up a hierarchy that stated that only the priests and bishops were allowed to interpret the bible, and peasants and average folks were not worthy to even read it, they even kept it in a dead language (Latin) so that even when they heard the Bible, they wouldn’t understand it!
Eventually there was great revolt against this tyranny, Martin Luther in Germany was the inspirational leader of what is now known as the Protestant Reformation. They had no established authority to lead them, because the authority had become corrupt! Nevertheless with great courage and God’s help, they successfully established a new religion that allowed truth to have free course!
Nothing New Under The Sun
Likewise in modern America men have created an artificial hierarchy to control the thoughts of the people who, according to them, are too stupid to make decisions for themselves! This can be seen in the medical systems, including Registered Dietitians as well as Doctors of all sorts, and organizations like the AMA and the FDA. These artificially exalted men are the new priests and bishops of this corrupt religion and the only ones qualified to interpret truth, and if any speaks differently, they are either unqualified, uninformed or stupid. They also move like the Spanish inquisition to purge or excommunicate any unbeliever from their church. The church of false-science as God.
You Have No Scientific Evidence!
Part of the devilish system of science falsely so-called is the term clinical trial. A term for a study that is almost always sponsored by someone who is looking for a specific result, and can only be paid for by those who have a highly profitable Fake Food. In fact, real food can for all practical purposes never have a clinical study, because it never generates the large sums of money needed to pay for it, as real food has such a small profit margin.
Furthermore, when a study does occasionally suggest some truth, it is quickly attacked as irrelevant for one reason or another. This system is effectively keeping America eating in the Dark Ages! Check out this recent study by the
I remember when lecturing to a large group of cardiologists at a hospital the stunning wow effect of the Cow and Tiger story I often teach as a common sense picture of the benefits of eating in alignment with the , (traditional) as opposed to modern science recommendations (like a Cow). For more than a few there, it was an A-HA moment!
Unfortunately common sense allegories are almost never spoken in the halls of medicine, just clinical studies!
Consider the Ant…
Just as the Ants have no ruler, but with diligent teamwork accomplish great feats of work , so the real food movement grows and its healthier, more zealous activists keep on working and teaching in the face of insurmountable odds! Without corporate sponsorship, government grants or help from any established medical organization.
Wisdom from the Bible
God laughs as the foolishness of man, and is glorified by using the small things of this world, to overturn the great! We who are part of this movement know that it is a good and right thing to do, and if we keep the course, we may soon see the liberation of real food, and the restoration of our nation’s health.
How long wilt thou Sleep, O Sluggard? when wilt Thou Arise out of thy Sleep?
If you have a desire to get active in the fight, please go to and become a member, begin to learn the truth about real food, and have courage, the ant wins in the end!
Please consider becoming a nutritionist, and learning how to be an effective messenger of real food at
A Hepatitis C patient trying Hijama Therapy – by Usman Baloch
Hijama for the treatment of Hepatitis C
This is a guest-post in the form of a written interview with Usman Baloch – a male cupping therapist based in Lahore, Pakistan, about one of his patients trying hijama therapy for the management of Hepatitis C (also see previous post: “Hijama in Pakistan – by Usman Baloch”).
- What condition did the patient suffer from, or what symptoms did the patient have?
Doctor said he is having Hepatitis C which is a disease where swelling (inflammation) of the liver occurs, and in the test they confirmed that he is having fatty liver, pain in the abdominal region, lower right side of the abdomen, and kept feeling fatigue for small amounts of work done, loss of appetite, also pain in the body specially when sleeping, he felt too much pain in the muscles and numbness. Initially he suffered with low grade fever, and all this was ongoing for the last 9 years and now the symptoms were intense.
- How long had the patient suffered with this condition?
For over 9 years, just after having treatment for some tooth problem from a dental clinic, the very next day he had fever and pain in the body, then after some tests he came to know that he had Hepatitis C
- What did the treatment involve? How many cups were applied per treatment and how many treatments were given?
On the very first treatment only 2 cups were applied along with some changes in the food/diet intake and also some changes in the daily routine life of that person.
- What difference did the treatment make to the condition, and can you ask the patient to describe in his own words how he felt after the treatment?
When he came after around 48 hours later for the next treatment, he was having very little bearable pain in the right side of abdomen whereas he was having too much pain before, and had slept very soundly and had a nice sleep, with no pain in the flesh/muscles, no numbness and felt very much active, like he felt he now had the energy to do things which he couldn’t do before.
The same satisfaction you can watch in the movie below, taken during second treatment, only 2 cups were applied on the 2nd treatment and then he left to his home town around 300km away from my clinic and I advised him to come back after 15 days, using sidr honey as his primary medicine, some restrictions on the food, and changes to his lifestyle daily routine
Below is the transcript of the video:
MR MAZEN BURAIQ (ARAB)
senior therapetic counceler graduated from thomas addison state college USA: consultant for International Cupping Foundation
Here we have Muhammad Shahid Muhammad Shahid is a Hepatitis C patient. He has been suffering from this disease since the last nine years. He has been suffering pains in various parts of his body particularly on his two shoulders and around his neck and his chest and at a certain location where the liver is. He has been suffering pains in the past when he sleeps on his side for example, that side would hurt and become numb. And then when he turns to the other side again the other side becomes numb. Shahid came 24 hours ago to meet our Mr Usman who treats people by cupping therapy, which is Al-Hijama – the hijama which Rasulullah Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam recommended, and angels recommended to Rasulullah Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam. Hijama was done yesterday in this part of the body, in the middle of his back and as a result of that Muhammad Shahid reports, today is the second day of the treatment. Muhammad Shahid reported excellent progress. Now he feels much better and his pains have almost gone, also another cupping has been done on this muscle of his leg and as a result of that even in the liver area, the pain has almost vanished. Muhammad Shahid reports good progress and he came back again now for further treatment. Muhammad Shahid is going to remain under treatment for a specific timing which Mr Usman Baloch will be deciding. Now we are going to watch the second day of treatment: This is a cup which has been installed with vacuum on his back and this cup is attracting and joining the blood inside the cup – you see there is an increase in the skin that is going into the cup, slow increase going on, and that is the collection of toxic blood that Rasulullah Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam in the hadith said: Get rid of this blood. He said about hijama that it is a cure and blessed as well. Now we see what Mr Usman is performing, the second step, he is opening a blade that is what they call ‘mishrat’ in Arabic. Rasulullah Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam said: “La Khaira fi kaseerin min tadaweekum illa ma kaana min shurbate asal, au shartate mihjam au kayyin bin naar, wa inni la uhibbul kayya bin naar” There is no benefit in most of the medicines you are using, except what is in a sip or drink or honey, or in the ‘mishrat’… … The blade with which Mr Usman has made small injuries on that part of the body which has been raised by vacuum. Again he has installed the cup, now you can see the blood coming into it from the skin from his back this blood will be thrown away, and the body will get rid of this collection of toxic and damaging concentrations of blood in his skin , he will get rid of them and he will again get better inshaAllah Rasulullah Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam informed us that the best of the treatments we have is a drink of honey, or hijama (which is being performed in front of you) or what they call branding with fire (cauterisation) – the latter which is something that Rasulullah Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam did not like. USMAN BALOCH: Thank you Mr Mazen Buraiq for your kind help. You people keep visiting us at our website www.cupping.ws where you can find further details of this patient, and other patients who are being with cupping and honey therapy. Thank you,
With most liver cancer caused by undetected or untreated hepatitis B or C viral infection, the 22,000 new cases of liver cancer that are diagnosed each year could be dramatically reduced if Congress took decisive action to close the funding gap for federal viral hepatitis education, screening, and surveillance programs, the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable (NVHR) said today...
Despite the soggy weather, my daffodils are beginning to bloom. These beacons of cheer brighten the dreary landscape. Read about how your gift of daffodils can help brighten other people’s lives.
#1 – Daffodil Days
Proceeds from the American Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days program not only raise funds, but give hope to people facing cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, Daffodil Days “is about more than just giving beautiful flowers: it is everyone’s opportunity to create a world with less cancer and more birthdays where cancer never steals another year from anyone’s life.” Please give a gift of hope to this worthwhile event.
#2 – My Most Requested Recipe Update
This information just in from one of my co-workers! A few months before I posted in September, a co-worker asked me for it so she could prepare it for her husband. He’s been eating steel cut oatmeal for breakfast every morning since then. Says my co-worker of her husband, “He was waving his lab report around like it was a medal.” The eighteen point drop in his cholesterol was quite significant. His current cholesterol levels have gone back down to his 2006 levels!
#3 – A Produce Tip from Bob
When buying bananas, look for medium-sized ones without any bruises. Avoid those that have a greenish-purple tinge as those will never ripen to a golden yellow. The greenish-purple tinge indicates that they have been refrigerated at some point in time. They are okay to eat, but will not taste as good.
#4 – Recycling: By the Numbers
I read an on the Planet Green site called Recycling: By the Numbers and was impressed with the information. Here are the numbers as stated in the article:
* 544,000: Trees saved if every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber paper towels (70 sheets) with 100 percent recycled ones.
* 20 million: Tons of electronic waste thrown away each year. One ton of scrap from discarded computers contains more gold than can be produced from 17 tons of gold ore.
* 9 cubic yards: Amount of landfill space saved by recycling one ton of cardboard.
* $160 billion: Value of the global recycling industry that employs over 1.5 million people.
* 79 million tons: Amount of waste material diverted away from disposal in 2005 through recycling and composting.
* 5 percent: Fraction of the energy it takes to recycle aluminum versus mining and refining new aluminum.
* 315 kg: Amount of carbon dioxide not released into the atmosphere each time a metric ton of glass is used to create new glass products.
* 98 percent: Percentage of glass bottles in Denmark that are refillable. 98 percent of those are returned by consumers for reuse.
* 51.5 percent: Percentage of the paper consumed in the U.S. that was recovered for recycling in 2005.
#5 – A Quote on Hope
Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence. Lin Yutang
I don’t know anyone over 40 who doesn’t have to watch what they eat. The fit people are fit because they work at it. Period.
There was a study done a year or so ago that determined that people who were fit tended to be friends with people who were fit. People who were overweight tended to have friends who were overweight. The message here is that you and your friends create your own reality. The conversations you have and they way people behave around one another sets up a standards of what’s normal. We judge our own behavior relative to the behavior of those we associate with.
I live in a very small (49 homes), pretty close-knit neighborhood. We have developed norms here–not by design, but by opportunity and example. The kids here are incredibly active and fit. The women have built workout coalitions and routines. From meeting for walks and/or carpooling to the gym at 5:30am to simply sharing information on best practices, there is a strong sense that being healthy matters. During the summer, the guys have “Basketball Night” every week. As families we play football and kickball, and our block parties are almost dangerous as the kids zoom past on foot, skateboards, or bikes. Additionally, many of us have rules on “screentime,” limiting our kids to an hour a day, for example, on their choice of screen: tv, computer (except for homework), video games, etc.
We have defined a healthy, active lifestyle as “normal” and we reinforce it constantly for one another. The support and examples we provide one another–intentionally or not–are a great impetus for good behavior.
What are the norms for you and your friends? Can you begin to set the tone by example and, perhaps, initiate change? Does it matter? And if so, how serious should you be about changing your eating and making activity the norm?
As I said, I don’t know anyone over 40 who doesn’t have to work at being fit. And I would argue that doing it right is NOT about moderation. It’s about rejecting ALL the stuff that doesn’t help by rethinking the purpose and essence of food, and by having an honest reflection on where you’ve set the bar for yourself and by whose standards.
This isn’t about “giving up” things you love to eat, it’s about recognizing that many of those foods are predisposing us and our kids not to like the stuff that’s really good. In turn, it hurts our ability to develop a taste for natural foods. The stuff that hurts the most is the highly processed, corn syrupy, prepackaged, perservatived (my word), super salty, sugary crap created by corporations. As Michael Pollan says, these things aren’t food, they’re “edible food-like substances.”
We were not designed to be stagnant. We were not designed to eat the sugar and salt and fats that have found their way into the American diet.
I hear people say things like, “I cut out soda” or “I’m cutting back.” And that’s terrific. But are you serious or not? Getting healthy is not about cutting something out, it’s about creating a new set of norms for you, your family, your friends. I know what that looks like for me. You can see what that is by looking at my “Sample Menus” post (). What it will mean for you might be different. But whatever it is, I urge you to set the bar well.
How far you decide to go will be determined by how urgent you think it is that you make a change. If your cholesterol is through the roof, I hope this serves as a kick in the butt for you. If you’re diabetic or almost diabetic, here’s your kick in the butt. If you just want to enter your later years with a good, healthy head-start, my foot is on your caboose.
Watching my father-in-law struggle with a variety of illnesses of late has been a reminder about coming to a fight well-armed. Someday, lots of us will have to deal with illness or the inevitable ramifications of wear and tear. It seems to me that if we’re strong going into those challenges, we’ll have a better shot at getting through them well.
Really, there’s no reason that I can think of not to be serious about reshaping, re-norming your life. What have you got to lose?
