On the water thing --- I just purchase a water structuring unit for the whole house.

 I like the idea of it. I can't say I've noticed any health benefits since I didn't have any problems to start with. Supposedly it returns water to a natural, 'living' state as it would have been after tumbling over rocks in nature.
Here's a clip that that shows the energy:  http://youtu.be/LD_9BvdpguQ

They have impressive results with plants as in this strawberry field video:  http://youtu.be/mkC02rUS8tU
This is my favorite video testimonial:  http://youtu.be/GzykZd6jKfQ

Has anyone had any experience with water structuring?

I bought mine from www.greenfieldnaturals.com/

How many tabs do you have open right now?

One? I’m impressed.

More than 4? Join the club.

 

Yeah, I used to be a member of the 10-tab browser club. I’d be on six blogs at once, have messages blinking on Facebook and compulsively check my e-mail just in case. If one was loading too slow, it was back over to another tab.

 

Until I realized that it was driving me NUTS.

 

I was stressed, scattered, and get this – incredibly anxious. I couldn’t pin the reason for a while, until one particularly peaceful day, it jumped out at me. I hadn’t been online all day, and had spent the day free from stomach knots…until I opened my web browser. Actually, as soon as I cracked open my laptop, the anxiety hit me.

 
And then I knew: it was the constant browsing, the million sites screaming for my attention that was making me so uneasy and overwhelmed.

 

Without any real plan, I quit.

I decided that the world wouldn’t end if I took a break, so I closed the browser and just sat there. I looked out the window, took a sip of water and the deepest breath.

That was a Friday, and for the rest of the weekend, I didn’t touch the computer. Instead, I spent time with family, went outside, cleaned and read – y’know, lived life offline.

 

Lovely, right? Away from all that noise, those tabs all vying for my attention, I felt peaceful. Happy.

 

But I couldn’t stay away from the internet forever – it was still be there waiting for me.

 

When I went back to work on Monday and opened up Internet Explorer, anxiety didn’t grip me. I read my e-mail, taking care of messages one at a time. If I saw an article I wanted to read, I’d “new-tab” it, but wait until I was done to go read it. And when I was reading the article, I didn’t stop mid-way to read a new one.

It was a small miracle!

 

By giving myself a bit of distance and the chance to re-create my inner peace, I was able to calmly return to the web. And the effects are lasting: now, I generally don’t have a ridiculous amount of tabs open, and I take things one page at a time. If I start to get crazy, I recognize it quickly and take a break.

 

Can you relate? Are you a member of the 10-tab browser club? 

 
 If you answer yes to any of these questions, you might be:

    After you read an article, do you retain the information?
    Do you feel you’re gaining anything from the reading you’re doing online?
    Are you spending an unnecessary amount of time on social media?
    Do you find yourself hopping back and forth between tabs before finishing what you were doing?

 

Big deal, right?

Right.
Effects of mindless web browsing:

    Stress. Feeling like you can’t keep up is super stressful! By trying to read all the articles you want, keep up with social media and e-mail, you’re probably stressing yourself out. Am I right?
    Anxiety. Maybe you don’t get this, but I did – big time. Being pulled in so many directions was just killing the peace.
    Trouble focusing. How can you possibly focus when you have so many sites blinking for your attention?
    Destroys flow. You know when time ceases to exist, you’re filled with joy and could go on with the activity forever? That’s flow, and mindless web browsing destroys it. To create flow, you must be focused.
    Wasted time. When you’re hopping between tabs, you’re probably not focused enough to actually be gaining anything from your reading. So really you’re just wasting time, hopping around on the net from one flashy page to the next.

 

There are many reasons to stop, and I’m sure you have yours.

My main reason was the killer anxiety – here’s how I dropped the frenzy and began to browse more mindfully:

 
How to bust out of the mindless browsing trap:

1. Quit cold turkey. I think that’s the reason I’ve been so successful with it. Had I just inched my way out, the temptation would’ve been too great to resume old habits. But completely shutting myself off and getting rid of all temptation allowed a sense of peace to overcome me. That sense of peace allowed me to revisit the internet with a new frame of mind. If it can be a whole weekend – awesome! I highly encourage it. But if you only have a day, work with that.

 

2. Read everything in its entirety. I used to open up blog articles, skim them quickly and move on to another one (if I even made it all the way through). As you can imagine, I was gaining absolutely nothing from reading them – it was just a time waster. Lori Deschene at TinyBuddha has a wonderful reminder for her readers on every page – a little symbol that nudges you to read mindfully. I think we need this everywhere! A tiny buddha in the corner of our screens, reminding us to browse with purpose.

 

3. Beware the temptation of multiple tabs. I’ll still have a couple of tabs open sometimes, if I come across a linked article mid-way through a blog post, or something catches my eye. But it takes awareness and good effort to stop myself from jumping ship and moving on to the next shiny new thing. Your best bet is to minimize the amount of tabs you have up where you can – like with Facebook and e-mail. You don’t need these things up 24/7. They’re always wanting your attention.

 

4. Pay attention to how you’re feeling as you browse. Are you feeling rushed or overwhelmed, like you can’t possibly read everything you need to? If so, remember: one tab at a time. In fact, mindful browsing will make it more likely that you read what you need to – and actually retain and use that information.

 

5. Know your triggers and limit them. What websites make you more likely to become scattered? For me, it’s anything social media related – Facebook and Twitter, mostly. There’s always something new popping up to read or click on – you can never keep up! So I don’t even try. When I go on either, I limit my scrolling – do I really need to know what people were posting at 3am? It’s just a time waster. I try to stay in the present and read only the most recent updates, and when that’s done – it’s done.

 

6. If you start multi-tabbing and feeling overwhelmed, stop completely. Even if just for a few minutes, close (or at least minimize) your browser, take a drink of water, and sit. Just be. When you’re centered, return to the browser – one page at a time.

 

7. Take regular breaks. Before you even get to the point of overwhelm, minimize the browser and leave the screen for a minute. Stretch out, have a snack or just breathe. Remembering life beyond the internet helps me stay focused and mindful when I return to it.

 

I think the quickest, most effective way to start browsing mindfully is to give yourself a break (which is why it’s #1     ). Unplug, go outside, relax with your family – do anything but go online. When you return, I think you’ll find a new sense of peace and purpose in your browsing.

 

What do you think: Do you browse mindfully? Or are you a tab-hopper? What do you think you’d gain by surfing the net with more purpose?

 

* This post is part of Amit Amin’s Sweet Tune of June: A Month of Happiness! Tune in through the month of June for easy ways to become a happier human, one day at a time.
Peace, love and a steaming cup of Zen,

Kaylee

Abstract

Chronic systemic exposure of mice, rats, and Drosophila to D-galactose causes the acceleration of senescence and has been used as an aging model. The underlying mechanism is yet unclear. To investigate the mechanisms of neurodegeneration in this model, we studied cognitive function, hippocampal neuronal apoptosis and neurogenesis, and peripheral oxidative stress biomarkers, and also the protective effects of the antioxidant R-alpha-lipoic acid. Chronic systemic exposure of D-galactose (100 mg/kg, s.c., 7 weeks) to mice induced a spatial memory deficit, an increase in cell karyopyknosis, apoptosis and caspase-3 protein levels in hippocampal neurons, a decrease in the number of new neurons in the subgranular zone in the dentate gyrus, a reduction of migration of neural progenitor cells, and an increase in death of newly formed neurons in granular cell layer. The D-galactose exposure also induced an increase in peripheral oxidative stress, including an increase in malondialdehyde, a decrease in total anti-oxidative capabilities (T-AOC), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities. A concomitant treatment with lipoic acid ameliorated cognitive dysfunction and neurodegeneration in the hippocampus, and also reduced peripheral oxidative damage by decreasing malondialdehyde and increasing T-AOC and T-SOD, without an effect on GSH-Px. These findings suggest that chronic D-galactose exposure induces neurodegeneration by enhancing caspase-mediated apoptosis and inhibiting neurogenesis and neuron migration, as well as increasing oxidative damage. In addition, D-galactose-induced toxicity in mice is a useful model for studying the mechanisms of neurodegeneration and neuroprotective drugs and agents. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Effects of diet on mercury metabolism and excretion in mice given methylmercury: role of gut flora.
Abstract

Mice fed either (1) a pelleted rodent diet, (2) evaporated milk, or (3) a synthetic diet (high protein, low fat) exhibited different rates of whole body mercury elimination and fecal mercury excretion after exposure (per os) to methylmercuric chloride. The percentage of the total mercury body burden present as mercuric mercury was highest (35.3%) in mice fed the synthetic diet (which had the highest rate of mercury elimination) and lowest (6.6%) in the animals having the lowest mercury elimination rate (milk-fed mice). Mice fed the synthetic diet had lower mercury concentrations and had a higher proportion of mercuric mercury in their tissues than the mice from the other dietary groups. Treatment of the mice with antibiotics throughout the experimental period to suppress the gut flora reduced fecal mercury excretion and the dietary differences in whole body retention of mercury. Tissue mercury concentrations and proportion of organic mercury in feces, cecal contents, liver, and kidneys were increased by antibiotic treatment of mice fed the pelleted or synthetic diets. These results are consistent with the theory that demethylation of methylmercury by intestinal microflora is a major factor determining the excretion rate of mercury.

GAPS Diet
Two groups of rats were given organic mercury. One group were given a powerful antibiotic, the other group were not. The mercury got into the bloodstream of only about 1% of those without the antibiotic, and 90% of those with the antibiotic. Keep gut flora healthy and strong and it will protect you. (When antibiotics are taken they wipe out bad bacteria AND beneficial bacteria.)

The catch with many of these ideas is this, I suspect:- Whatever trick I use, I will only get extra neurons equipped for solving that particular trick, and that trick alone. So, if I switch hands, I might become more adept at using the mouse with my left hand(and, perhaps even,  become very slightly  more ambidextrous in general) - if I walk around with my eyes closed, I may enhance the other senses slightly and perhaps add extra neurons to brain-regions devoted to the function of walking around blind. Similiarly, if I do intelligence-improvement tests, then maybe I will only get better at solving intelligence-improvement tests, but nothing else.

Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory

Abstract:
Fluid intelligence (Gf) refers to the ability to reason and to solve new problems independently of previously acquired knowledge. Gf is critical for a wide variety of cognitive tasks, and it is considered one of the most important factors in learning. Moreover, Gf is closely related to professional and educational success, especially in complex and demanding environments. Although performance on tests of Gf can be improved through direct practice on the tests themselves, there is no evidence that training on any other regimen yields increased Gf in adults. Furthermore, there is a long history of research into cognitive training showing that, although performance on trained tasks can increase dramatically, transfer of this learning to other tasks remains poor. Here, we present evidence for transfer from training on a demanding working memory task to measures of Gf. This transfer results even though the trained task is entirely different from the intelligence test itself. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the extent of gain in intelligence critically depends on the amount of training: the more training, the more improvement in Gf. That is, the training effect is dosage-dependent. Thus, in contrast to many previous studies, we conclude that it is possible to improve Gf without practicing the testing tasks themselves, opening a wide range of applications.

Hello friends,

I have read more than a couple posts of low-carbers experiencing dizziness. I have mentioned a few times the need to use salt, but thought I'd create a new thread as well. Personally, I drink about 3-4L of water a day and put a pinch of Celtic Sea Salt (rich in the minerals low-carbers need) in my water bottle each time I fill it up.

If you are low-carbing and feel, fatigue, headaches, muscle weakness, dizziness, mood swings, lethargy, decreased mental alertness, this is a sign you need salt.

From, The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living , (The latest LOW CARB book and it is FANTASTIC!) by Jeff Volek, PhD, RD & Stephen Phinney, MD, PhD

"The short answer is that the amount of carbohydrate in our diet changes our need for salt. High carbohydrate diets make the kidneys retain salt, whereas a low carbohydrate intake increases sodium excretion by the kidney.

Salt and water are more efficiently excreted, which is a good thing as long as you maintain an adequate minimum sodium intake. Ignore this lesson and you are likely to suffer the completely avoidable problems of headache, fatigue, weakness, and consipation."

Dr. Eades has also written about this recently in his blog:

"The good news is that it’s great to get rid of the excess fluid but it comes at a cost, which is the bad news. As the excess fluid goes, it takes with it sodium an extremely important electrolyte. When sodium levels fall below a critical threshold (which can happen within a short time), symptoms often occur, the most common being fatigue, headache, cramps and postural hypotension.

Postural hypotension happens when you stand up too quickly and feel faint. Or even pass out briefly. It’s a sign of dehydration. So if you’ve started your low-carb diet, made your multiple runs to the bathroom, and jump up off the couch to answer the phone and feel like your going to faint (or actually do pass out momentarily) and have to sit back down quickly, you’ve got postural hypotension. It’s really easy to fix – you simply need to take more sodium and drink more water. Salt your food more. Increasing sodium is just another one of the many counter-intuitive things about low-carb dieting. Just like eating more fat to lower your cholesterol. You’ve got to start thinking differently. The low-carb diet is one that absolutely requires more sodium. A lot more sodium.

...get some Celtic Sea Salt, Himalayan Salt or one of the other grayish, pinkish kind of grungy looking salts and replace your normal salt with these. And don’t use them sparingly. These salts have been harvested either from ancient sea beds or obtained by evaporation of sea water with high mineral content and contain about 70 percent of the sodium of regular salt (which has been refined, bleached and processed until it is pretty much pure sodium chloride, often with anti-caking agents added). The other 30 percent of the volume is other minerals and micronutrients (including iodine) found in mineral-rich seas. Consuming these salts is not just following a Paleolithic diet using modern food, but, depending upon the origin of the salt, it is consuming the same food your Paleolithic ancestors ate. I much prefer these salts taste-wise to regular salt, and I salt the heck out of all my food with it."

Which overpopulated animals?

- sea lions?
- penguins?

Yeah insects

- tried live ants eggs
- crickets I ate cooked
- baby bees must be good because the tribes people who gather wild honey eat it for themselves and never sell it.