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Chipping Away at The China Study

Posted by Lauren Snyder Grosz on July 10, 2010

Here is a recent post by one of my favorite real food bloggers who goes by the moniker Food Renegade.

I’ve answered plenty of reader questions about The China Study over the years. Most simply ask, “I appreciate the research and thought you’ve put into getting us this information about how pre-industrial diets can help curb the diseases of industrialization (heart disease, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, obesity, etc.), and I support your conclusions 100% based on my own experience. But I have friends who have read The China Study, and they say that it’s real, hard science disproving what you’re promoting. What’s your response to them?”

I’ve never written a post about The China Study, so rather than point them to my own content, I point them to a hodge podge of various posts online written by people whose scientific judgments I trust as more valid than my own — some are doctors, some have Ph.D.s in nutrition research, and some are just folks who are science junkies. While I’ve found those handful of articles to be helpful, I’ve never found any one of them individually to be all that comprehensive or thorough.

That changed yesterday.

Now, I’ve finally read what I consider the go-to article online for helping folks in love with The China Study see the light. The post is written by someone who took the raw data from The China Study and mapped it out to see if she could draw the same conclusions that the famous book’s author (T. Colin Campbell) drew.

After spending a solid month and a half reading, graphing, sticky-noting, and passing out at 3 AM from studious exhaustion upon her copy of the raw China Study data, blogger Denise Minger decided it was time to voice her criticisms. And there were many.

Her 9,000+ word essay is as thorough as they come, and she concludes with this thought:

In sum, “The China Study” is a compelling collection of carefully chosen data. Unfortunately for both health seekers and the scientific community, Campbell appears to exclude relevant information when it indicts plant foods as causative of disease, or when it shows potential benefits for animal products. This presents readers with a strongly misleading interpretation of the original China Study data, as well as a slanted perspective of nutritional research from other arenas (including some that Campbell himself conducted).

In rebuttals to previous criticism on “The China Study,” Campbell seems to use his curriculum vitae as reason his word should be trusted above that of his critics. His education and experience is no doubt impressive, but the “Trust me, I’m a scientist” argument is a profoundly weak one. It doesn’t require a PhD to be a critical thinker, nor does a laundry list of credentials prevent a person from falling victim to biased thinking. Ultimately, I believe Campbell was influenced by his own expectations about animal protein and disease, leading him to seek out specific correlations in the China Study data (and elsewhere) to confirm his predictions.

So, if you’ve been wanting an in-depth rebuttal to T. Colin Campbell’s The China Study, go read her 9000+ word summary conclusion. And if you want even more detailed analysis, take a look at the complete series of articles she’s posted over the past month as she’s dissected both the raw data and the famed best-selling book.

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Lauren Snyder Grosz is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Educator. She writes for LiberationWellnessBlog.com. As a student on a lifelong quest for exceptional health and happiness, her mission is to empower people to take complete responsibility for their own health by rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true and rediscovering what truly works based on accurate science.

Posted in Nutrition, cancer, heart disease | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

One Real Housewife Gets It Right

Posted by Lauren Snyder Grosz on June 19, 2010

On my way to workout a good friend invited me to a neighborhood boutique

that was hosting one of the Real Housewives of New Jersey for a book signing.  I have to confess that I’ve never seen the show, but it was a lovely warm night, so it seemed like the perfect reason to venture forth.  My cousin is a huge fan thus making the book purchase and signing mandatory.  I grabbed the Skinny Italian and composed myself to meet Teresa Giudice, who was actually quite lovely and the antithesis of what I expected.

Italian food is something I’ve trained myself to forget about, having packed on 20 lbs. in my early twenties when I first toyed with the idea of vegetarianism.  At that age it was easy to shed, but I have continued to hold a grudge against that particular cuisine.  Teresa however, has gotten my attention.

The Skinny Italian is packed with delicious recipes and old world wisdom.

This woman cooks for her family almost every night.  The traditions she was reared with make her savvy enough to eschew food she isn’t sure about, that means anything processed, but even more importantly, she gives vegetable oils, especially canola, no quarter in her book.  There is a whole page dedicated to canola oil titled “what is a Canola” where she very cogently writes about how heavily processed this particular oil is, how it comes from the rapeseed plant, while contrasting it to olive oil which is cold pressed and comes from a fruit.

I think that it’s important to point out Teresa hopes that scientists have removed the toxins from the plant so that canola oil is not poisonous to people, but that she is going to bet on the side of olive oil, which has been safely used for thousands of years.  What I love about this perspective is that she doesn’t need to understand the science on this stuff.  Teresa is relying on a tradition that she isn’t going to abandon no matter what the experts tell her.  We need our children to have the same convictions about butter, cream, and real milk.

I wish Teresa truly understood butter. She has so much right that it’s hard to imagine she wouldn’t quickly be on board.  I could spend time complaining about those little things, but it is too refreshing to find a a beautiful celebrity offering excellent advice that it would be in bad taste to nit pick.  She’s even skeptical of whole grains and suggests that we get our fiber from real vegetables.  This book isn’t limited to pasta,  there is room for pork, veal, chicken, fish, and beef.  Excellent job Teresa – show those Real Housewives of  New York how it’s done!

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Lauren Snyder Grosz is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Educator. She writes for LiberationWellnessBlog.com. As a student on a lifelong quest for exceptional health and happiness, her mission is to empower people to take complete responsibility for their own health by rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true and rediscovering what truly works based on accurate science.

Posted in Family Wellness, health, real food | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Oscar Win Fails to Protect Star From Weight Watchers

Posted by Lauren Snyder Grosz on June 4, 2010

Jennifer Hudson has proclaimed for People magazine that she is in the best shape of her life. The 28 year old star was ordered by the director of her new movie to loose weight and thus began her transformation.  Hudson went from a size 16 to a size 6 by learning a new approach to food.  She also bagged a Weight Watchers gig and will be spreading nonsense about points on national television.  According to her counselor Liz Josefsberg, Hudson was afraid of carbohydrates and was only able to loose weight in the past through restriction.  Using a food scale, the star learned how to measure her food allowing her to eat whatever she wants as long as the portions are controlled.

The bizarre habit of using of food scale isn’t entirely responsible for Hudson’s success. She also employed trainer extraordinaire Harley Pasternak to whip her into shape.  With Pasternak at her side, Hudson proudly proclaims that “I’m a cardio maniac!”

Let’s see, in order to look great, all you need to do is eat the same old junk in moderation and run around like a rat in wheel. How long will it be before Hudson is back to her pre movie body?  Well, the good news is that she can repeat the process ad infinitum.  People magazine will always be there to cover the story.

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Lauren Snyder Grosz is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Educator. She writes for LiberationWellnessBlog.com. As a student on a lifelong quest for exceptional health and happiness, her mission is to empower people to take complete responsibility for their own health by rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true and rediscovering what truly works based on accurate science.

Posted in Food Addiction, Nutrition, exercise | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

Sit Back, Relax, and Enjoy the Sun

Posted by Lauren Snyder Grosz on May 21, 2010

Last Friday, I found myself running down the hallway trying to get my husband’s attention. He was on a business call, but I desperately wanted to share my discovery with him.  Spring was finally here and I had proof regardless of the fact that the weather outside was bent on contradicting me.  With great satisfaction, I held out two tubs of butter, one a pale yellow of the sort you’re used to seeing in the store and referring to when you want your colorist to make your hair look the way it did when you were young, and the other a rich vibrant hue not unlike what Van Gogh came up with for his sunflowers series.  Interestingly, the paintings were considered innovative at the time for their use of yellows, including a new pigment, chrome yellow.  Of course, the only way for butter to turn this gorgeous hue is for cows to be grazing on green grass that is rich in carotene and that doesn’t happen until around May when they quit eating hay.

If the sun can do such glorious things for butter, can it really be something that people should take desperate measures to avoid?  This post will explore ways to get the most from the summer sun without slathering on chemically laden sunscreens.  Most people my age will associate the sun with vitamin D production, but it’s not possible to get enough vitamin D from sunlight if you live in temperate and northern latitudes.  Food sources of vitamins A and D are butter and cream, eggs, fish, shellfish, liver, organ meats, fish eggs, fish liver oils, and the fat of birds and pigs.  That said, if it has been about nine months since you last sat pool side, build your tan incrementally.  Long before you begin to burn, seek the shelter of an umbrella, and or put on airy protective clothing.  For most of us, it’s not safe to try and build a base tan over the course of a weekend.

My mom loved to sunbathe and she passed this love on to all three of her children. Our summer schedule revolved around peak tanning hours when all of us could be found reclining on chaise lounge chairs soaking up the rays.  What my mom didn’t know was that this is actually the safest time to be in the sun because at midday the UVB rays are their strongest.  These are the rays that facilitate vitamin D production.  UVA rays are the strongest in the morning and evening.  Of course, it isn’t possible to de-select one set of rays from the other, but it is possible to know the best time for sunning oneself.

When you don’t have the luxury of taking shelter from the sun, using a sunscreen is a practical solution. The problem is that ninety percent of them contain octyl methoxycinnamate or OMC for short.  This chemical even in low doses is deadly to mice and becomes toxic when exposed to the sun!  The ones that don’t contain OCM are likely to contain other questionable ingredients such as octyl salicyclate or avobenzone.  Ingredients with a proven track record are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.  They can be found in Dr. Mercola’s Natural Sunscreen, which also is chalk full of other wonderful ingredients including antioxidant-rich green tea to help protect your skin on the cellular level.

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Lauren Snyder Grosz is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Educator. She writes for LiberationWellnessBlog.com. As a student on a lifelong quest for exceptional health and happiness, her mission is to empower people to take complete responsibility for their own health by rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true and rediscovering what truly works based on accurate science.

Posted in Butter, Family Wellness, cancer | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Eating Like a Baby is Now All the Rage

Posted by Lauren Snyder Grosz on May 7, 2010

Jennifer Aniston, Just Go With It star has taken to eating her food baby style in a bid to maintain her fabulous body. Considering what her haircut put hair stylists through after friends debuted, I can’t help but wondering what might be in store for chef’s this summer, as middle age women all over the country demand that their entrees be served a la Jennifer,  in other words pureed.

This is a quote by her trainer Tracy Anderson. “I developed a cleanse where you can still eat and it’s a lot of pureed foods. I was very careful about the foods I chose to put in it.  When you do these liquid cleanses, I felt a responsibility to come up with something. Liquid cleanses do help you lose weight, but you will gain more the next week.  I wanted something where you can eliminate toxicity and break bad habits but still have your digestive system going.  That is when the baby good cleanse was born. You get to eat all day these little puree things, and the chocolate pudding I did is pretty killer.”

I really don’t know what’s sadder here, Tracy’s inability to present her reasons in a clear cogent fashion or her completely distorted relationship with food.  Ms. Aniston had a lot to do with the success of The Zone Diet and it’s not hard to imagine that her body is simply craving fat, which she is probably terrified of.  Perhaps this is why she is eating all day long.  I bet Tracy Anderson, of Gywneth Paltrow fame, has been filling her head with all sorts of dietary nonsense, like don’t eat dairy.  After all, her former client Madonna doesn’t!  Comically, this is the advice of people in the know.

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Lauren Snyder Grosz is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Educator.  She writes for LiberationWellnessBlog.com.  As a student on a lifelong quest for exceptional health and happiness, her mission is to empower people to take complete responsibility for their own health by rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true and rediscovering what truly works based on accurate science.

Posted in Weight Loss, health | Tagged: , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

The Liberation Diet Takes on Dr. Oz’s “BEACH” Body Plan

Posted by Lauren Snyder Grosz on April 30, 2010

“B is for a quick-slimming Breakfast.” Dr. Oz recommends always revving up your metabolism with breakfast.  Aim to get up to half of your total daily calories in the morning.  This advice is given based on a recent study that found that this simple trick shifts body chemistry, allowing dieters to get the big initial results of a low-carb plan sans the carb deprivation.  That’s a study I’d like to see.  What are the chances that it was paid for by a company who makes breakfast foods?  Among the delicious temptations, dieters can choose from fat-free yogurt, scrambled eggs, or Chex Multi-Bran.  These main entrees are supported by whole-grain English muffins and unlimited fruit.  The only thing to like here is that he refrains from calling for egg whites only.

Pastured eggs are highly recommended on The Liberation Diet; eggs with bacon, sausage, ham, fish, scrapple, or raw milk.  For frying it’s best to use butter or coconut oil.  Now that’s not a recommendation, you’ll find in any magazines catering to busy Mom’s, looking to take care of their families.

“E is for Eliminating the most fattening food of all.” Sugar and high fructose corn syrup spike your blood sugar and are loaded with empty calories. Dr. Oz says that whole fruit is the most slimming way to soothe a sweet tooth.

While The Liberation Diet concurs with Dr. Oz re sugar and high fructose corn syrup, it is key to remember that anything your mouth perceives as sweet is being turned into sugar by the body.  Kevin Brown and his co-author Annette Presley recommend eating fruit even less frequently than vegetables, and then only when in season and with real cream or some other healthy fat to increase absorption of antioxidants.

“A is for flab-blasting antioxidants.” Vegetables and brightly colored fruit continue to be linked to fat -burning and hunger control.  Dr. Oz says that they are extremely good for you and will provide plenty of energy.

Kevin Brown maintains that vegetables are certainly healthy, but not the foundation of health.  A good rule of thumb is to eat them in smaller proportion to fat and protein.  Always eat vegetables with saturated fat, to increase the absorption of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.  So remember to add butter or a lovely cream sauce to get the most out of your vegetables.

“C is for a Chocolatey weight-loss surprise.” Just when you thought he was done beating the antioxidant drum, Dr. Oz informs that dark chocolate is loaded with antioxidants, “especially a certain type linked to reduced hunger.”  I’d tell you which one, but readers are left to guess.

On The Liberation Diet, chocolate isn’t verboten, it simply isn’t touted as an antioxidant, hunger curbing, mood elevating, must have.  Eat well 80% of the time and enjoy an exceptional chocolate desert occasionally!

“H is for fat-flushing H20. Dr. Oz thinks people are so stupid that they routinely confuse thirst and hunger.  His wisdom here is to drink water whenever you’re hungry and that way you’ll always feel full and thus end up eating less.  I’m not really sure how much water Americans now consume, but I’ve looked around and it doesn’t appear to be curing anyone’s hunger.  Finally, when you tire of water, grab some green tea.  You’ll never guess why.  Yes, that’s right!  Green tea is loaded with antioxidants!

The Liberation Diet’s take on water is most refreshing because it’s something that is rarely talked about.  There is an epidemic of heart burn and acid reflux out there.  What really happens when dieters are convinced to drink water before eating in order to curb their appetites?  Hydrochloric acid is secreted into the stomach when we eat so that  food can be digested.  Drinking water dilutes this acid, thus impairing digestion and promoting digestive ailments.  While drinking excessive amounts of water will not flush toxins from the body, as is commonly thought, it most certainly will flush vital minerals from the body.  In short, drink when you are thirsty, but try to refrain from drinking at least an hour before eating.  In terms of quenching thirst water doesn’t even come close to Kombucha, which also happens to be a live fermented drink.  Real milk and broth are also excellent options.

Dr. Oz’s BEACH diet only works because it’s based on severe calorie restriction.  Menus do not exceed 1,200 calories.  I can only imagine the binging that takes place when coming off of this diet.  Dr. Oz gives us nothing new here.  It’s the same old vegetable pushing low-fat nonsense that got us into trouble in the first place.

The Liberation Diet extolls fat as the most important nutrient in the diet!  Half of your fat intake should be from saturated fats found in animal foods, coconut, and palm oils.  Not only is this a delicious way to get key nutrients, but it is also the best option for feeling full and satisfied when you eat.  This is why people on The Liberation Diet typically eat only twice a day.  They are sated when they eat and so they eat less and loose weight.  There are many other important differences between this diet and the ones that are being peddled to women.  Some of those have been highlighted in this post, but the best way to smash out of food prison is to buy the book and liberate yourself.

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Lauren Snyder Grosz is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Educator.  As a student on a lifelong quest for exceptional health and happiness, her mission is to empower people to take complete responsibility for their own health by rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true and rediscovering what truly works based on accurate science.

Posted in Goal Setting, Nutrition, liberation diet | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Yes, Poor Food Choices Should Be Supported

Posted by Lauren Snyder Grosz on April 22, 2010

This is a story from Karen De Coster’s blog.  For people involved in the real food movement, it underscores the importance of not picking and choosing what you want regulated, but rather being against regulations and bans in the first place.  The ability to tan, drink real milk, consume processed food, or purchase grass fed beef should all reign supreme when the consumer is king.  Ultimately, the struggle should be for the individual to have the power to choose what he wants.  Only when the rights of those who prefer tv dinners to home cooked  meals are secure, can those of us struggling to give butter a fighting chance know that some headway is being made.

The State’s New Demons:  Tanning and Salt

A lead story in the news this week has been the latest in a series of propaganda pieces on tanning beds: they are bad for you. The story now goes that tanning salons are bad because they attract people with addictive behavioral patterns. Some dermatology study was produced that will become another piece of ammunition for the proposed taxes on tanning.

The title of the piece in the Archives of Dermatology is, “Addiction to Indoor Tanning: Relation to Anxiety, Depression, and Substance Use.” I can’t wait to see the science behind that correlation. Tanning salon customers, it is said, are prone to using drugs, alcohol, and smoking. I guess that’s sort of like saying people who are attracted to Florida condominiums are prone to arthritis, bingo, and aging.

After the government’s long and destructive “war” on the sun, it has been widely reported – even in the mainstream press – that people are lacking in Vitamin D, and the whole obsession with high-SPF sunscreen has been misplaced. The Lifestyle Nazis, for some reason, just hate tanning salons. They hate that people freely make the choice to exchange their cash for time ‘neath the artificial bulbs. I kind of like the argument that the tanning salon tax is racist. Note the dermatologist in the video who states, “The tanning salons know their days are numbered.”

Next …

Lo and behold – yesterday, after months/years of rumblings, the FDA announced its long-term plan for controlling the kind of food you can access.

“The Food and Drug Administration is planning an unprecedented effort to gradually reduce the salt consumed each day by Americans, saying that less sodium in everything from soup to nuts would prevent thousands of deaths from hypertension and heart disease. The initiative, to be launched this year, would eventually lead to the first legal limits on the amount of salt allowed in food products.

…The legal limits would be open to public comment, but administration officials do not think they need additional authority from Congress.

Legal limits on salt in processed foods. And the FDA has unlimited authority to bypass your (equally totalitarian) elected legislature. One source from the FDA stated that the government’s goal is to change the “embedded tastes in a whole generation of people” ….. by slowly boiling the frog, that is. This will be a 10-year program of gradual totalitarianism, as the Feds work to slooooowly change your personal taste. They will gradually lower the allowed limits on salt and wean you off the “taste.” Excuse me – “embedded taste?” I am being completely objective, here, as I do not ever eat landfill processed foods. But it’s a choice, and no matter how bad a choice, some people choose it.

One of my most hated tyrants in all the land, Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, stated, “Limiting sodium might be the single most important thing the FDA can to do to promote health.”

Accordingly, we know that this has nothing to do with some great concern for the health of individuals. For the same state that rails against processed food makers enables and subsidizes the foods – processed and agriculture – that have been making Americans obese and disgustingly unhealthy for decades. These subsidies have been luring Americans away from more expensive, healthy, whole foods (that actually take time to prepare) and toward quick-and-easy processed, garbage foods. The salt grab is another control tactic to be used to socially engineer society under the guidance of the self-aggrandizing Central Planners.

Ask yourself this question: after the FDA/Department of Agriculture/Feds limit the amount of salt in the processed foods you buy, what do you do when you cook it at home? Hmmmm, add salt from your salt shaker? Is it really that easy? Yes, that is, until you need a special license to have a salt shaker and buy salt, and jack-booted thugs from the FDA are kicking in your door for a salt shaker search.

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Lauren Snyder Grosz is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Educator.  As a student on a lifelong quest for exceptional health and happiness, her mission is to empower people to take complete responsibility for their own health by rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true and rediscovering what truly works based on accurate science.

Posted in Food Safety, Food freedom | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Eat Real Food for a Good Night’s Sleep

Posted by Lauren Snyder Grosz on April 13, 2010



Tryptophan is vital to getting a good night’s sleep and waking up in a pleasant mood. The process begins when tryptophan is converted to serotonin, which is a precursor to melatonin, the sleep hormone. Serotonin is responsible for mood maintenance and when levels are low depression, anxiety, panic attacks, or insomnia may rear their ugly heads. That being said, it takes adequate amounts of serotonin to manufacture melatonin.  These processes all hinge on each other, but without the essential amino acid tryptophan and plenty of it, there will be a serotonin shortage.

The body can’t make it, so it must be obtained from the food we eat. Good sources of tryptophan include poultry, seafood, meats, and dairy products. When seeking these out, it is best to find grass fed products because when animals eat grasses and plants rather than grains, they are much higher in tryptophan.  Vegetarians take note non animal sources of tryptophan generally have about 50% less than animal sources.

In terms of supplementing with melatonin there appears to be a lot of disagreement re what the proper dosage should be. This is even more pronounced when it comes to children who are having trouble getting to sleep.  The benefits of increasing your tryptophan through food are many fold.  Real dairy, pastured eggs and chicken, grass fed beef, and wild caught seafood are exactly what a body needs to be vibrantly healthy and free of the diseases of civilization.  To think that a good night’s sleep happens to be a side benefit of opting out of industrialized food couldn’t be better news.  It makes one wonder, how many ailments would mostly disappear once real food was introduced and take seriously.

Lauren Snyder Grosz is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Educator.  As a student on a lifelong quest for exceptional health and happiness, her mission is to empower people to take complete responsibility for their own health by rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true and rediscovering what truly works based on accurate science.

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Rethinking Stretching

Posted by Lauren Snyder Grosz on March 24, 2010

Mark Sisson, the author of The Primal Blueprint, which hit number two on Amazon last week has some advice on stretching that may seem counterintuitive at first.  Sisson uses a model, primal human, named Grok to illustrate how to eat and be fit in today’s upside down health and exercise world. Grok would never do chronic cardio or chronic strength training and follows the Primal Fitness Pyramid – sprints, lift heavy things, move frequently at a slow pace.  This approach allows muscles to feel strong and supple nearly all of the time.  Becoming sore and stiff post workout is natures’ way of telling you that you overdid it.  Inactivity, extra rest and sleep, good nutrition, and brief repeated exposure to cold water (especially immediately after strenuous exercise) is key to muscle tissue repair.

To prepare your body for a workout, begin with a bit of brief, low-intensity exercise to help shift blood from the organs into your working muscles.  Post workout, consider doing a few basic stretches to transition from an active to inactive state.  Sisson recommends the Grok Hang and the Grok Squat.  The hang offers a full body stretch and is as easy as grabbing hold of a bar with an overhang grip and hanging for as long as you can.  It’s exhilarating and is both a strengthening and stretching move.  For the squat, place your feet about shoulder-width apart, bend your knees with a straight or slightly arched back and lower your torso all the way down until your butt is nearly touching the ground.  Your torso will be between your knees and your arms extended in front.  This one natural movement will efficiently stretch your feet, calves, Achilles, hamstrings, buttocks, lower and upper back, and shoulders.

A 20 second Grok Squat is a basic movement that delivers a comprehensive effect.  Mark suggests that if you happen to be feeling warm and loose, try gently rocking back and forth or extending your arms out farther for an even deeper stretch.  Use common sense: if you are overweight or have joint issues, ease into this stretch and hold onto a stationary object.

Lauren Snyder Grosz is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Educator.  As a student on a lifelong quest for exceptional health and happiness, her mission is to empower people to take complete responsibility for their own health by rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true and rediscovering what truly works based on accurate science.

Posted in exercise, fitness | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Reaping the Benefits of Gratitude

Posted by Lauren Snyder Grosz on March 14, 2010

Be Ye Thankful Always!

Gratitude has been referred to as the “forgotten factor” in the area of happiness research.  Robert A. Emmons of The University of California, Davis and Michael E. McCullough of The University of Miami have chosen to focus on this aspect of happiness in particular and their work has yielded some interesting finds.  For instance,  people who kept gratitude journals reported fewer physical complaints, felt better overall about things, and were more optimistic about the future than those who recorded obstacles or even neutral events.

It seems that gratitude flourishes when purposely cultivated.  People who rate themselves high on a gratitude scale place less importance on material goods; they judge their success and the success of others on criteria that is personally meaningful.  This is not to say that material gain and gratitude don’t go hand in hand, but to point out that gratitude can be a powerful collaborator in accomplishing one’s goals, whatever they may be. A useful way to think about this is to ask the following question, “Have you ever known a happy person who wasn’t grateful, or a grateful person who wasn’t happy?”  Happiness is a result of gratitude and while it is not always possible to just be happy, choosing to be grateful is always an option.

Margaret Paul, Ph.D. and the founder of Inner Bonding Educational Technologies, Inc. draws attention to the fruitlessness of complaining.  The more you complain, the more unhappy you will feel.  Consider that it isn’t a person, situation, or the past that causes unhappiness.  Rather it is choosing to complain about it instead of discovering its wonderful side and being grateful for it.  Fundamentally, complaining is a form of control.  The mind believes that by complaining loud and long enough, it is able to have control over getting the thing that is wanted.

It is profound to think that contentment and a bevy of other benefits are attainable by circumventing initial reactions that have more to do with self indulgence than evolving the self.  Taking time to express heartfelt gratitude and resisting the temptation to complain is an investment that will continuously bear fruit, as long as it’s cultivated.

Lauren Snyder Grosz is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Educator.  As a student on a lifelong quest for exceptional health and happiness, her mission is to empower people to take complete responsibility for their own health by rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true and rediscovering what truly works based on accurate science.

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