You don’t want to give them the harsh products that a vet may prescribe, unless it’s the last resort. You may also not have the money to spend on them when they need help.

When you have a pet that needs to have some help, you may want to get them some herbal remedies. You will find many herbs for are the same as those for humans. When you can get the herbal treatments that are recommended especially for a pet, they can feel good again. You feel good, too, about sharing a happy and healthy lifestyle.

Many pets have aches and pains. When you notice that your pet is having a hard time with this, you should think of these herbal remedies as a first aid. Remember, “Do no harm” can apply to your pets too.

Where do you get the herbal treatments for your animals? The health food store would be a first choice. They have nutritional supplements in different forms. You can get a liquid, or a powder that can be mixed in their favorite food.

Certain superfoods help them naturally. Nutritional yeast and spirulina are two that come to mind.

There are vets who specialize in these natural treatments. Your local health food store may know of one. Try one of the herbal shops that you see. You can ask them for advice and what they think will work the best.

Some people order on the Internet and get great deals on certain things that they need to make their pets feel better. Your pet my not directly appreciate and understand the extra effort you go to for this kind of treatment. But, you will feel good about helping them in a very natural way.

When I was young, I had the routine, the lifestyle, of going to the gym and working out with weights. I wanted to build strength, muscle mass and put on a few pounds. I also played tennis several times a week.

By the time I was middle aged, my main exercise was the fiddling that I did several times a day. That, along with a vegetarian diet, supplemented with superfoods, was enough to keep me well.

Over the past five years, I can see that I’m losing the battle against cortisol induced weight gain. I long for a magic pill or food that will solve this problem. But, I don’t believe it exists. It appears that a lifestyle adjustment needs to be made. I’m not fit as a fiddler these days.

Enter Carolyn Hansen, stage right. She has in her hand an ebook, a special report. The title is The Secret Fire Within, Hot Metabolism–A Metabolic Fitness System.

I love it when someone claims to have a secret. Something in me says, “Oh yeah? Show me something I don’t know.”

This concise ebook tells you something you don’t know and tells it in a way that is clear and to the point. It makes the information real.

The recommendations that follow the analysis of what the problem really is consist of a few simple activities. These activities comprise, for most of us, a slight change in lifestyle. These activities will heat up your metabolism.

Is a hot metabolism a good thing? If you want to be trim and fit, smart and active, yes , it’s a good thing.

In addition to the drawings toward the end to illustrate some simple exercises that will build muscle, there are recommendations about water, air and natural light. This part could be developed a little more, perhaps, but the logical support is in place. And the activities are simple, anyway.

My involvement with Tom Goode’s full wave breathwork inclines me towards more development of this side. The aspect of subtle energy and water makes me want more on that topic. But, all that is just personal preference. There is enough to get you into action. That’s what counts.

The one element that Carolyn Hansen does not explore is self-discipline. The cultivation of a good new habit that leads to a change in lifestyle is anything but easy.

There are a few self-improvement teachers who focus on discipline, Stuart Wilde and Jim Rohn come to mind, for example. But, there are too many who suggest that a simple activity that is easy to do will solve all your problems.

The one idea that really hit me from The Secret Fire Within is about getting up from a quiet activity, like reading or writing, and moving around vigorously. Just do something, might be the slogan.

Whereas, before reading this, I had in mind setting aside at least twenty minutes to do something, now I only require a few minutes. And I do this more often, taking breaks from the more passive things that come so naturally to me. Reading a book, or reading online, can take over a lot of my time if I let it.

One last thing, as I am providing a link to the web site where you can get this excellent little book. It’s a promotional campaign that is like one of those nested series of Russian Matrushka dolls. There’s something inside something inside something.

I get so tired of this. Sometimes I just bail out before purchasing the simple thing that I wanted. Other times, I’ll hang in there and get what I want.

With that caution in mind, you can have the same experience I had by clicking here.

Still, I was a little impatient with the need to rinse the grains to avoid bitterness. You don’t have to do that with rice.

Now we have the updated info from a real expert, Carolyn Hemming.

The following video reveals the technological basis for the superfood revolution. Chris Hayes is the speaker. He makes a recommendation I support whole heartedly.

This is a convenient way to get more information: Elan’s Nuriche Connection.

Another way to say it is, you can live on superfoods.

Here’s what Wikipedia says:
Superfood is a term sometimes used to describe food with high phytonutrient content that some may believe confers health benefits as a result. For example, blueberries are often considered a superfood (or superfruit) because they contain significant amounts of antioxidants, anthocyanins, vitamin C, manganese, and dietary fiber. [1] However, the term is not in common currency amongst dieticians and nutritional scientists, many of whom dispute the claims made that consuming particular foodstuffs can have a health benefit[2] There is no legal definition of the term and it has been alleged that this has led to it being over-used as a marketing tool.[3]

That’s what I call faint praise indeed. I suspect that the definition was shaped by Big Ag and the Pharmaceutical Industry.

The purpose of their definition is to invalidate or cast doubt. I don’t know if that is really a fair approach.

Here is what Graci and Diamond say:
Superfood the most nutrient-rich and completely absorbable food in any classification of protein, carbohydrates, fat or fiber;

contains powerful antioxidants, disease-preventing phytochemicals, and a wide range of colors;

allows the body a supply of balanced energy and supports accellerated healing;

examples are …spirulina, phosphatidyl choline, alfalfa, barley, and wheat grasses, milk thistle, and …green tea.

I don’t know about phosphatidyl choline, but I’ve eaten all the other items.

I just culled it from the index, leaving out the non-vegetarian items. The list is not all one kind of thing. What it means to me is, a good place to start.

acerola berries   acidophilus   alfalfa   apple   apple cider vinegar   apricots
bananas barley   beans   bee products   bentonite clay   bilberry
blue-green algae   blueberries bran fiber   broccoli   burdock   butter
cabbage   carrots   chard   cheese   chicory root chlorella   chlorophyll
chromium picolinate   cinnamon   coffee   collards   cottage cheese

cranberries   dandelion greens   dulse   enzymes   essential fatty acids
fiber fructo-oligosaccharides   fruits   garlic   ginger   ginseng
grains, organic, whole   grape grapefruit-seed extract   grasses   honey
herbs   Indian berry   iodine   iron   juices   kale kelp   lactobacillus acidophilus
legumes   lettuce   licorice   magnesium   maple syrup   milk
milk thistle   minerals   miso   molasses, blackstrap   mushrooms
mustard greens   nuts oils   olive oil   omega EFAs   onions   orange juice
organic foods   parsley   peaches   peas pectin   peppers, red   potassium
rapini   rice   royal jelly   salt   sea vegetables   seeds   soy spinach   spirulina
sprouts   squash   strawberries   sunflower seeds   tea, green, herbal
tofu   tomatoes   water   watercress   wheat grass   whey   yams   yogurt   zinc

Here is a link to the book itself:

I saw a micro photo of oak pollen. The working end of the medieval weapon called the morning star had nothing on the dangerous look of this little beast.

You can well imagine how this spiky marvel of the oak tree can irritate sensitive membranes. And yet, many people are oblivious to this pollen. And, yes, I am among their number.

Two people told me recently of the sinus challenge presented by this oak pollen. I told them the story of my student Jeannie Horrell. She is Gary Horrell’s mom.

Gary did the video for The Money Tunes, and some other productions. Included is his cut of the Orange Blossom Special on YouTube that I did with the Green Grass Boys. There are links to these on his web site where he documents Florida Folk on video.

When Jeannie talked about her sinus problems from oak pollen, I simply recounted what I’ve heard. “Taking bee pollen acts as an inoculation against tree pollen.”

Bee pollen is one of my favorite superfoods. It’s easy to take. I like the taste of it.

Not all health food nuts like bee pollen. We who do are a minority of a minority.

I was drawn to it because of all the superfoods that I knew of at the time, it was tasty and easy to find. I was informed when I started that bee pollen is a good source of minerals, including trace minerals.

Bee pollen also has analogs of hormones that help balance the endocrine system, or so I have read.

It’s been a regular part of my diet for decades. Nowadays, several times a week, not every day.

And, finally, it’s inexpensive. This would not be so if bee pollen was popular. If the 4% of the population who shop at health food stores all got bee pollen, the price would take off like a rocket.

Recommending bee pollen to Jeannie was natural for me. She took the effort to get some at a health food store.

At the next fiddle lesson she told me that it really made a difference with her sinuses. It was a big improvement.

Now I’m waiting for my new people to say how it went for them.