A Living Philosophy: Character and Real Life©

In my reading this week I came across Marshall Field’s “Twelve Rules For Success.” Field knew something about the subject. He was one of the more successful businessmen of his time. He started the famous Marshall Field company in New York City. Here are his “Twelve Rules.”

1. The value of time.

2. The success of perseverance.

3. The pleasure of working.

4. The dignity of simplicity.

5. The worth of character.

6. The power of kindness.

7. The influence of example.

8. The obligation of duty.

9. The wisdom of economy.

10. The virtue of patience.

11. The improvement of talent.

12. The joy of originating.(1)

I like this list! There is a lot to think about and implement in one’s life that will help in making that life a success by most any definition of the word. 

But, I want to call your attention to something which I think is important. Note how many of the things in the list involve character traits:

Perseverance

Character

Kindness

Example

Duty

Thrift (economy)

Patience

Creativity (originating)

Eight of twelve, or three-fourths involve important character traits. The other four: valuing time; work; simplicity, and talent, grow out of elements of one’s character. However, Field’s list, as good as it is, is incomplete. There are other virtues such as those stressed in the Beatitudes in the Savior’s Sermon on the Mount, and in 2 Peter 1 which should be added to Field’s list.

Below are four quotations culled from a large file on the subject, that illuminate the importance of character in various ways; the last of which can be considered almost “prophetic”:

DAN COATES:

Character cannot be summoned at the moment of crisis if it has been squandered by years of compromise and rationalization. The only testing ground for the heroic is the mundane. The only preparation for that one profound decision which can change a life, or even a nation, is those hundreds of half-conscious, self-defining, seemingly insignificant decisions made in private. Habit is the daily battleground of character.(2)

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON:

... I am conscious of the fact that mere connection with what is known as a superior race will not permanently carry an individual forward unless he has individual worth, and mere connection with what is regarded as an inferior race will not finally hold an individual back if he possesses intrinsic, individual merit. Every persecuted individual and race should get much consolation out of the great human law, which is universal and eternal, that merit, no matter under what skin found, is in the long run, recognized and rewarded.(3)

THEODORE ROOSEVELT:

Every great nation owes to the men whose lives have formed part of its greatness not merely the material effect of what they did, not merely the laws they placed upon the statue books or the victories they won over armed foes, but also their immense but indefinable moral influence upon the national character. It is not only the country which these men helped to make and helped to save that is ours; we inherit also all that is best and highest in their characters and in their lives.(4)

JOHN LUTHER:

Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift.  Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it piece by piece--by thought, choice, courage, and determination.(5)

SAMUEL SMILES:

[W]hen the time arrives in any country when wealth has so corrupted, or pleasure so depraved, or faction so infatuated the people, that honor, order, obedience, virtue, and loyalty have seemingly become things of the past; then, amidst the darkness, when honest men–if, haply, there be such left–are groping about and feeling for each other’s hands, their only remaining hope will be in the restoration and elevation of Individual Character; for by that alone can a nation be saved; and if character be irrecoverably lost, then indeed there will be nothing left worth saving.(6)

Let’s think together again, soon.

Notes:  

1. Earl Nightingale, This Is Earl Nightingale, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1969, 56.

2. Dan Coates, "Points To Ponder," Reader's Digest, (June 1996):252. 

3. Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, New York: Bantam Books, 1963, 28.

4. Theodore Roosevelt in, Reader's Digest, (November 1993):146.

5. John Luther, in Arthur F. Lenehan, (ed.), Leadership, (April 1994):3.

6. Samuel Smiles, Happy Homes and the Hearts that Made Them, Chicago: U. S. Publishing House, 1889, 87.

Valuable Things that Get Lost in Modern Philosophy and Culture©

(Revised, 13 December 2019.)

There's a tendency to throw aside old values as belonging to an earlier generation. Don't discard those values that have proven, over the period of time, their value. Just believe in those values that made our nation great and keep them: faith, family, hard work, and, above all, freedom.  --Ronald Reagan.(1)

In earlier blogs I have expressed concern that many people today, almost without question, accept the modern world’s philosophies as superior to anything that has gone before. In my view this bodes ill for not only the immediate future, but for subsequent generations as well. Materialism, hedonism, and secularism with their attendant subsidiary doctrines dominate modern culture and much good is left behind and lost.

This concern surfaced again this week as I’m just finishing an interesting book about True Success: A New Philosophy of Excellence, where I encountered two examples of things that are being or are already lost, though this is not the author’s main point. The first draws a distinction between personality and character. Tom Morris wrote:

Character is the moral core of personhood.  It ought to be thought of as the foundation of personality. As Stephen Covey and others have begun to point out in recent years, too much of the success literature of our century has been personality-oriented when it should have been character-based. A beautiful house built on a bad foundation cannot provide for secure and stable long-term habitation. Nor can an attractive personality veneered over a bad character provide for any sustainable and fulfilling form of success.(2)

The evidence of this retrograde situation surrounds us. One example, a ubiquitous example–is the near worship of the “celebrity culture.”  It is one that emphasizes externals of personality and largely ignores the interior matter of character. In recent months the “Me too” movement has begun to expose the shallowness of the veneer and the emptiness of the soul of some considered to be celebrities. Alas, that is only one aspect of a much larger problem arising from the emphasis on personality at the expense of character.

The second example comes from the following observation about the culture of winning so prevalent today.

Everybody wants to be a winner. Nobody wants to be a loser. It was once the worst kind of insult and severest sort of condemnation to be called a scoundrel, a cad, a louse, a liar, untrustworthy, unscrupulous, unethical, immoral, or just plain evil. In more recent days, the most dreaded affront and reproach seems to be “loser.” A label to be avoided at all costs. The lowest of the low. The realm of outer darkness.(3)

Interestingly, both of these examples come from a chapter about character and its role in success.  

I am only an amateur and part-time sports fan and I prefer college to professional sports. My two-cheer commitment to sports is due in the main to the nearly total commitment to winning at all cost, including cheating if necessary. Consider how often one observes “holding” penalties in football.  The rules clearly make holding an opponent while blocking a violation. Every act of holding is intentional. There is no “inadvertent holding.” I know this is true because I have played the game. Every act of holding is cheating. Yet we frequently hear announcers, commentators–color and otherwise–as well as coaches and players ignore, dismiss, or rationalize this obvious cheating.

This is just one of many examples of cheating found in football. Another example, which some may consider petty, is that universally ball carriers after they are tackled push the ball out ahead of where they were tackled, hoping the refs will “spot” the ball there. It almost never works, but apparently it works enough so that virtually every ball carrier does it to add more yardage than actually achieved in the run. This is an obvious and very observable attempt to cheat.

“A little thing” the avid fan says. My response: it is cheating and that matters. This is my problem with what is happening today–the casual dismissal of “little” efforts to cheat. Cheating seems to be accepted in most sports if one can get away with it, because as the mantra goes “winning is the only thing.” The situation is exacerbated in  “big money” sports where an economic motive contributes to the “win at any cost” mentality.

Reading in August 2019 brought two additional things that modernity has taken from us, or is taking from us to my consciousness.  They are, 1) freedom of speech is gravely threatened, and 2) pornography has robbed the generations since 1960 of sexual purity, thought purity, speech purity, innocence of children exposed to it readily on the Internet and elsewhere, and a whole lot more. Laws, liberal philosophy, attempts to mold culture and society, and most contemporary religions have proved impotent before both of these losses. I believe Harry Emerson Fosdick has the right answer. Regarding free speech he wrote in the early 1950s,

Nothing that we call progress will reverse that trend--only the restoration in us of our father's love of independence and liberty, their belief in freedom to think, and their determination in a democracy to say what, by God's grace, they see fit to say about the public weal.

And about pornography:

Nothing that we call progress will get us out of that--only the re-emergence in us of something old: self-respect, decency, disgust at things contemptible and low, public revulsion against panderers who grow financially fat on the exploitation of vice.(4)

Catholic Bishop Fulton J. Sheen argued that such losses happen because we have forgotten “the purpose of life” and replaced it with the idea of progress. Here too, we are confused and mistaken, because much of what we call progress can simply be "change without purpose". Thus we can confuse “a step forward with a step in the right direction.” That is, progress is considered good regardless of it’s direction, or what may have been forgotten, left behind, or jettisoned in it’s pursuit.  Progress, in this case, is it’s own purpose and goal, but may be largely misdirected, with the result being unsatisfying, unfulfilling and ultimately unrewarding if not inimical.(4)

Character, honesty, integrity, and fairness are just a few of the abandoned casualties in today’s modern philosophies and culture. I urge you to take such examples seriously and to be skeptical in a healthy way about the contemporary notion that the old is passe and whatever is new is superior. This is especially true regarding today’s erroneous equation of personality and character. Be wary of the popular notion that progress is inevitably good.  It may be retrogression dressed in the flashy fashions of sloppy, untested, and uncontested philosophy, especially if it encourages or contributes to forsaking much good that is old, simply because it is old.

Let’s think again together, soon.

Notes:

1.  Ronald Reagan, in Elizabeth Dole, comp., Hearts Touched With Fire: My 500 Favorite Inspirational Quotations, New York: Carroll & Graff, 2004, 96.

2.  Tom Morris, True Success: A New Philosophy of Excellence, New York, NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1994, 218.

3. Ibid, 219.

4.  Both quotations come from: Harry Emerson Fosdick, What is Vital in Religion: Sermons on Contemporary Christian Problems, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1955, 164, bold emphasis added.  What makes Fosdick's arguments all the more interesting, is that he is a progressive liberal, but in these and other cases he is arguing for a conservative position--the return to earlier philosophies and values that have also been jettisoned by recent generations.

5.  See, Fulton J. Sheen, Freedom Under God.  Washington, D.C., Center for Economic and Social Justice, 2013, chapter 3, “True Liberty,” pp. 19-28.  This book was originally published  by the Bruce Publishing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1940.  I thank my friend Jim Smith for bringing it to my attention.

Eating Lechi Every Day Brings A Face to The Face And Symptoms Of Increasing Age Are Less Visible.

Lechi is a major fruit of summer. It is also very beneficial for health as it is sweet and lush in taste. In litchi, carbohydrate, vitamin C, vitamin A and B complex are found in abundance. Apart from this, mineral such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and iron are also found.

Benefit of lichi

Eating lechi every day brings a face to the face and symptoms of increasing age are less visible. Apart from this, it also works to encourage physical development. However, keep in mind the time of the leeches that it can be very harmful to food. Eating too much lechi can cause itching, swelling and difficulty breathing.

Benefits of litchi eating:

1. Beta carotene and oligonol-rich lychee are helpful in keeping the heart healthy.

2. Lychee cancer is helpful in preventing cells from growing.

3. If you have got cold, then lechi consumption will be immediately benefited.

4. Litchi is also used to prevent asthma.

5. Lechi is also used for relief from constipation.

6. It is also beneficial to use litchi to reduce obesity. Along with this, it also works to boost the immune system.

7. Litchi food will also be beneficial for smoothing sex life.
Litchi has a considerable amount of water. It is also a good source of vitamin C, potassium and natural sugar. Its consumption balance the proportion of water in the body, causing the body and stomach to cool down. As well as keeping the digestion correct, it also plays a major role in the development of the brain. Let's know about these 8 big advantages of Litchi ...

Good digestion: Vitamins present in litchi are essential for the formation and digestion of red blood cells. This helps to store beta carotene in liver and other organs. Folate controls the cholesterol levels in our body. It keeps our nervous system healthy.


Treasure of Health: Lechi is not eaten as a fruit, its juice and shake are also very liked. Litchi is also used for garnishing jam, jelly, marmalade, salad and recipes. Small litchi contains mineral salts like carbohydrate, vitamin C, vitamin A and B complex, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, which make it very beneficial.
Immunity increases: Lychee is also a good antioxidant. Vitamin C contained in it also helps in the formation of blood cells in the body and the absorption of iron, which is essential for maintaining an immune system. Beta carotene, riboflavin, niacin and folate are found in large amounts in the production of leukemia in the production and digestion of blood cells.


Assistant to lose weight: Lichi takes care of figure as well as our health. There are large amounts of soluble fiber, which is a good way to reduce obesity. Fiber is helpful in digesting our food and helps prevent internal problems.

Beneficial for stomach: Litchi intake is beneficial to recover from mild diarrhea, vomiting, stomach disorders, stomach ulcers and internal inflammation. It reduces the effect of harmful toxin in constipation or stomach. Relief from kidney stone stomach ache relaxes.

Major sources of energy: Lechi is the source of energy. Lychee is very beneficial for those who feel fatigue and weakness. The niacin contained in it creates essential steroids and hemoglobin for our body's energy.

Supports water: Leechy juice is a nutritious liquid. It removes problems related to the summer season and cools down the body. Lichi supplies water to a balanced proportion in our body.

Prevention of cold and cold: Litchie is a very good source of vitamin C and prevents the spread of cough, cold fever and throat infection.

Strawberries Are Said to be One of The Most Attractive Fruits, Hardly Anyone Has Objection

If strawberries are said to be one of the most attractive fruits, hardly anyone has objection. The good thing is that it is such a fruit which children love too, or most children escape from far away.

Very similar to the size of the heart, these fruits are very fragile. In taste it is light sweet and light sour. These fruits of red-colored red are extremely juicy. Strawberries are the only fruits whose seeds are on the outside. You may be surprised to know, but there are 600 varieties of strawberries found in the world, whose tastes, colors and sizes are very different from each other.

 

straberry ke fayde

You can also take strawberries as a salad in addition to eating. If you want, you can also remove its juice. Many people like to take it as shake, smoothie and ice cream.

There are several major vitamins and salts in it. There are many benefits associated with its health, but it is also an absolute remedy for refinement. It is found in adequate amounts of Vitamin C, Vitamin A and. In addition, it is also filled with calcium, magnesium, folic acid, phosphorus, potassium and dietary fibers. Good thing is that it does not have sodium, cholesterol and fat.

It is a fruit that contains salicylic acid, which is helpful in reducing the appearance of many forms.

Use strawberries to refine your look:

1. To reduce the symptoms of increasing age

Vitamin C and anti-oxidant present in it are helpful in reducing symptoms of aging age. The lycopene present in it works to clean wrinkles and fine lines of skin. If you want you can take advantage of it by eating strawberries or by making a paste with milk, you can use it as a mask on face.

2. To brighten the tone

There are many types of minerals in strawberries that help to improve skin color. Apart from this, it is also an effective solution to make these black lips pink. If you want, you can use it as a scrub. Its mask is also very beneficial for color reducing.

3. For the problem of nail-acne

Strawberries are also used to get rid of the problem of nail-acne. By using this pores open, causing the toxic substances present in the inner layer of the skin, and the dirt of the face becomes clear. Due to the cleaning of dirt, the problem of nail-acne is also removed.

4. To Clean Dead Skin

Dead skin is very easy to clean by using strawberries. Dada Skin becomes clearer due to the cleanliness of the face and gives a glowing skin.

5. To whiten teeth

Vitamin C contained in it is very beneficial to maintain the brightness of teeth. Using strawberries, teeth are cleaned naturally. The white shiny teeth beautifully make four faces.

Due to excessive antioxidant and polyphone strawberries are good foods to keep your heart healthy. Strawberries contain anthocyanins which are responsible for their red color. It helps in protecting the circulatory system by controlling blood pressure. By which the arteries are saved from plaque buildup.

According to research, women who eat strawberries regularly are less likely to suffer from a third heart attack. You can take strawberries to keep your heart healthy.

Strawberries with antioxidants and ellagic acid help slow down digestion of starchy food. Strawberry starch regulates blood sugar after eating. This diabetes type helps in controlling the amount of sugar in 2-odd patients.

The glycemic index is low in strawberries. Fiber present in strawberries also helps control blood sugar level.

Use of strawberries to strengthen bones is beneficial. Strawberries contain potassium, magnesium and Vitamin K, which help in bone strength. Regular intake of strawberries helps keep bones strong and healthy for long periods of time. Calcium is also good in strawberries, which makes bones strong and healthy.

Due to the presence of copper, magnesium and manganese, strawberries are beneficial for our hair. These elements of strawberries help to reduce fungal growth on your scalp. Strawberries contain folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B7, which helps in controlling hair fall and making hair thicker. For your hair you can prepare strawberry masks at home. Using strawberries, add tea tree oil in it and use it in your hair and wash it with clean water after one hour. Your hair will become beautiful and brighter.

Why I Believe: Evidence Fifty-Seven: The Most Important Truths of the Universe Entrusted to a Lad–Along With the Charge to Disseminate Them to the World and He Pulled It Off©

101 Reasons Why I Believe Joseph Smith Was a Prophet of God:

Evidence Fifty-Seven:

The Most Important Truths of the Universe Entrusted to a Lad–Along With the Charge to Disseminate Them to the World and He Pulled It Off© 

Recently I quoted Neal A. Maxwell about a youthful blind spot–an “experience gap.”  (See “Living Philosophies” blog “Apostolic Counsel to the Young: Understand the "Experience Gap,” 2 September 2018.) But that is not the whole story, as most youth are almost universally aware. Elsewhere in his writings, Elder Maxwell writes about the other side of the newly minted coin. He observes the “frequency in history with which the young have done so much, so ably, so well, so soon,” and cites Benjamin Disraeli’s generalization that “Almost everything that is great has been done by youth.” Elder Maxwell continues:

While the lack of previous experience handicaps youth, previous experience can also hold hostage those who are older, preventing us from having or appreciating fresh experiences that could help us to restructure more correctly our understanding of the nature of the world and of life.(1)

Elder Maxwell cites the exquisite example of the youthful Joseph Smith. It is not uncommon for Church leaders to speak of young Joseph’s amazing spiritual contributions and ever expanding impact on the religious world. But, the insights which Elder Maxwell draws from Joseph’s earliest spiritual experiences–the First Vision and the recovery of the plates of the Book of Mormon–are at once thought provoking, articulate, and most importantly, they are evidentiary of Joseph's prophetic calling.  Elder Maxwell wrote:

God gave to mankind through a young man, Joseph Smith, the ultimate and immense truths of the gospel in this, the last dispensation. This young man who had no social status to protect, no private theology already worked out for God to endorse, and who had loving and listening parents, could report that theophany honestly and cling tenaciously to the truth of that first vision in the midst of great persecution. A sophisticated man who had community status to protect and his own ideas about what kind of religion the world needed–even though a good man–would have been sorely tempted to have traded off truth for the praise of the world. Paul reminded us that "the friendship of the world is enmity with God. . . ." (James 4:4.) Could any but a humble non-linguist have gone to the Hill Cumorah and, under the direction of an angel, be shown ancient records and be told, so boldly, that he, personally, would be the unlettered instrument in translating these for the benefit of all mankind, and still have believed all that–and helped such a marvel come to pass without wanting somehow to possess the plates rather than share their wisdom or to add his own mortal touches and flourishes to the manuscript?

In relation to his calling, Joseph Smith no doubt stood much like Enoch and Moses: overwhelmed that he had been chosen, but, nevertheless, humbly determined to do just what was asked of him. To the humble, the simpleness and the easiness of the way are glad realities; to the crowded, ego-filled minds of proud men, the sudden sunlight from a spiritual sunrise is irritating rather than awesome, and causes them to blink rather than to stare in reverent awe.(2)

The insight that the most important truths in the universe were entrusted to a 14-17-year-old New York farm boy with the responsibility to get them published and disseminated world-wide–along with acquiring the necessary economic resources, creating an organization, and initiating a long-term missionary effort implied by that initial responsibility to pull it off–boggles the thoughtful mind. That he accomplished that and so much, much more in the quarter century to follow, borders on the incredible.  I freely admit that I “stare in reverent awe.”  Thank you Elder Maxwell!

Let’s think together again, soon.

Notes:

1.  Neal A. Maxwell, That My Family Should Partake, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1974, 81-2.

2.  Ibid, 82.

Are We An “Age Beyond Wonder”?©

In 1977 a lightning bolt struck part of the electrical grid of the northeastern United States and New York City experienced a blackout. The fact that many New Yorkers took to looting, pillaging and burning out neighborhood merchants and complained that “mere nature” was allowed to disrupt technology was the occasion for an essay by one of America’s most brilliant pundits–George F. Will.  He considered that the  “extinguishing [of] street lights [was] enough to crack the thin crust of civilization in whole neighborhoods” as American barbarism. From the perspective of four decades, that perspective seems to have only deepened.

But the bulk of Will’s essay that week was devoted to the second issue–the irritation that “mere nature” inconveniently disrupted technology. Below are several excerpts which argue that this is evidence that a mature American society had lost its sense of awe and wonder. What do you think?  Has the computer age and the “age of Hubble” increased the sense of awe and wonder of Americans, or are they just more examples of Will’s argument?

*********

What most distinguishes modern people is that they have so slight a sense of awe about the world around them. ... [M]odern people should consider that, in a sense, they take more things on faith than did a thirteenth-century peasant tilling the fields in the shadow of Chartres.

When the peasant wanted light, he built a fire from wood he gathered. Modern people flip switches, trusting that someone, somewhere, has done something that will let there be light. How many switch-flippers can say what really happens, in the flux of electrons, when a generator generates?

The most advance form of travel for the peasant was a sailing ship or a wagon: the mechanisms were visible and understandable. This year forty-one million passengers will pass through Chicago’s O’Hare airport, obedient to disembodied voices, electronically amplified, telling them to get into cylindrical membranes of aluminum that will be hurled by strange engines through the upper atmosphere. The passengers will not understand, and will be content not to understand, how any of it really works. And we think the fourteenth century was an age of faith.

Perhaps ours is the strangest age.  It is an age without a sense of the strangeness of things.   ...

The human race has grown up and lost its capacity for wonder. This is not because people understand their everyday world better than people did in earlier ages. Today people understand less and less of the social and scientific systems on which they depend more and more. Alas, growing up usually means growing immune to astonishment.(1)

Let’s think together again, soon.

Notes:

1.  George F. Will, The Pursuit of Happiness, and Other Sobering Thoughts, New York: Harper & Row, 1978, 109-11, emphasis added.

Why Fruits Should Be An Indispensable Part Of Your Diet?

Are you a fruit person? Well, you better be – these blooms from the plant world are an indispensable part of our diet and without a good serving of them, we could land up in big trouble over time.

Plus, having a bowl of fruits every day is its own incentive – because let’s be honest here, it is a lot tastier than your veggies. But why are these plant material a crucial part of a healthy lifestyle, even according to digestive specialists garner NC? If you want to find out, then keep reading –

1.It is our source of antioxidants

Antioxidants are extremely important in tackling the free radicals in our body that would otherwise have oxidized and become toxic for our system. Fruits like blueberries and tomatoes are a great source of this nutrient and keeps our body detoxed.

In today’s modern world, with so much of pollution and contamination all around, it is pretty tough to neutralize these free radicals in our body and fruits provide the best alternative.

2.Fruits are a great source of dietary fiber

You obviously know the importance of dietary fiber in your nutrition plan. Not only does it help waste pass down your GI tract, but also, it keeps your stool soft and easy, preventing problems like hemorrhoids.

Try some apples, bananas, and oranges to have a good experience every morning. And you also get so much more out of it than just dietary fiber – nutrients like potassium, vitamin C and the likes.

3.Low Calories and lots of nutrients

If you are on a diet, then having more fruits makes a lot of sense. This food group keeps you full for a long time, gives you plenty of energy in the form of complex sugars, keeps your digestive system calm and light, and its low in calories.

So, controlling your overall calorie intake and completing all your macro and micro goals becomes so much easier with fruits – it is basically a dieters paradise! 

These are the 3 reasons why fruits are absolutely indispensable when it comes to a balanced diet and even gastroenterology specialists Dunn cannot disagree! So, don’t forget to include them in your diet and you are good to go!

Turmeric: for Arthritis (Joint Pain)

The benefits of using turmeric for arthritis.

1. Turmeric is an ancient spice which has been used for over 4000 years In Asia to treat all kinds of bodily infections, diseases and ailments.

This is usually purchased in a yellow powdered form of the root of the turmeric plant.

2. Arthritis is a common problem where inflammation begins to cause problems for the muscles and joints around the body. This can be extremely painful, but the good news is that turmeric can help

3. Turmeric was traditionally used in ancient Chinese and Indian Ayruvedic medicine to treat arthritis because of the wonderful active compound it contains called curcumin.

4. The curcumin with turmeric is an extremely powerful natural medicine and works to reduce inflammation throughout the body, including the muscles and joints.

5. Using turmeric powder either in a glass of water every day, or sprinkled over foods can have a dramatic effect on reducing pain from Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. If you do not like the taste, you can purchase turmeric capsules and take 3 times per day. 

6. Turmeric has a cleansing effect on the entire body and works to destroy harmful pathogens and free radicals. This effectively enhances the health of the internal organs, especially the pancreas.

7. Turmeric can be drank in the form of a tea, added to curries, used as a marinate for meats and is absolutely delicious.

8. This can work a lot better than anti-inflammatory drugs as it is completely natural and has less of a stressful impact on the body. 

9. To learn more about arthritis, digestion and healthy spices, be sure to see our channel. 

10. Turmeric also has a great range of other health benefits, for the heart and overall body. These are discussed in our other video entitled "Turmeric Water: Everyday".  Be sure to see this to learn more.

Thank you very much for listening, a like is always appreciated and remember to subscribe  for more healthy videos. I wish you great health, wealth and happiness. 

Calendula Flower: Benefits & Uses

The health benefits and uses of calendula flower. 

1. The calendula flower comes from the marigold family and has some fantastic health benefits for the human body.

2. These beautifully yellow/orange flowers are grown all over the world and are very easy to find.

3. Calendula flowers are often used to make herbal teas, in either fresh or dried form. These have a soothing effect on the body and can heal internal tissues.

4. Calendula flower tea works particularly well at lowering inflammation within the mucus membranes. The lungs, throat and digestive system are soothed when drinking this often.

5. The flowers themselves can be mashed into a paste and applied to the skin to treat many painful problems, such as Eczema, insect stings and skin irritation.

6. They also have a cooling effect on sunburnt skin and hydrate cracked and dry sore nipples for nursing mothers.

7. Many ancient cultures used these flowers in forms of traditional medicine, especially for healing the digestive tract. 

8. It was used primarily to cleanse and detoxify the liver and gallbladder, as it contains healthy carotenoids which work as internal healers.

9. During the American Civil War, calendula flowers were used on open wounds on the battlefields as they are antiseptic and prevent infection. They also help to stop the bleeding, and promote fast healing.

10. The yellow and orange pigment within the flowers has been used to make traditional dyes for fabrics for thousands of years. 

11. Calendula Oil can be made easily at home by soaking some freshly picked flowers in olive oil for 1 week. This oil can be topically applied to the skin to treat problems.

12. In herbal medicine calendula oil has been used on patients with radiation dermatitis, with positive effects on healing the skin. 

13. These flowers are considered sacred in India and have been used to decorate the statues of Hindu deities since early times.

14. Even the Romans and Greeks used golden calendula flowers in all kinds of rituals and ceremonies for their beauty.

15. You can also purchase calendula cream, dried calendula, liquid calendula extract or capsules. 

16. To learn more about herbal remedies using flowers, leaves and other natural sources, please see our other videos. 

Thank you very much for listening, a like is always appreciated and remember to subscribe for more healthy videos. I wish you great health, wealth and happiness.

Xylitol: Benefits & Uses

The health benefits and uses of Xylitol

1. Xylitol is an alternative sweetener which tastes very similar to sugar without the harmful effects.

2. This white granulated powder is becoming very popular nowadays as is perfect to use when trying to lose weight. 

Insulin, the fat storing hormone is usually triggered when we eat sugar. However xylitol does not have this effect and is also perfect for those with diabetes.

3. It can be used in baking with other low glycaemic foods such as almond flour to make healthy cakes, breads, biscuits, pastries and pancakes.

4. Xylitol powder is considered a "healthy sugar alcohol" and is made naturally from the fibrous parts of plants such as the wood of birch trees and other natural sources.

5. It is recommended by many dentists as it has the ability to regulate the Ph in the mouth. This helps to prevent plaque from sticking to the teeth.

  

Cavity causing bacteria in the mouth does not use xylitol for fuel, as it does sugar. This protects you from cavities in the long term.

6. Xylitol also has antiviral and antibacterial effects which can prevent ear infections, especially in children. 

7. Many people have also reported having better sinus health as xylitol can speed up the healing process and prevent bacteria from being fed. 

8. Cut out the sugar and try alternative sweeteners such as this for better overall health in the body and longevity. Sugar is the enemy for the human body, and is not needed at all in a healthy lifestyle.

9. We love use to use xylitol as a sweetener in herbal teas, cakes, and in anything that traditional sugar would have been used in. It has an extremely similar taste with no aftertaste at all.

10. In some people, xylitol can make you use the toilet more often. If this is the case be sure to try erythritol or stevia to see which works best for you.

11. If you are on a ketogenic diet, then we highly recommend this sweetener as It does not cause you to fall out of ketosis. Fat burning will continue, as long as carbohydrates are kept below 20g net.

12. To learn more about alternative sweeteners such as this, please see our other videos.

Thank you very much for listening, a like is always appreciated and remember to subscribe for more healthy videos. I wish you great health, wealth and happiness.