How To Meditate VI – Meditation Practice and Daily Life

Sixth (of six) in a series of videos on how to practice meditation without the requirement of religious dogma or spiritual mumbo-jumbo. This video discusses some of the ways to incorporate meditation practice into one’s daily life, as well as some of the things that must be moderated or done away with if one expects the meditation to have a real effect on one’s daily life.

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January 22nd, 2012 by InfoMan | Comments Off

Lupe Fiasco- Ghetto Story

Ghetto Story Lyrics: [Lupe: talking] You know I had to do it, man. It wouldn’ta been right if I didn’t. You seen it? You seen the show last night on TV? You seen nigga’s rims man? You seen the new Jordans man? You see her ass yo? Yeah, yeah, that’s crazy. [Singing:] Seein’ with my ghetto eyes I walkeded with my ghetto feet I talkeded with my ghetto speech I’m copasetic, I won’t let it bring me down Bring me down… I say it’s enstilled As I peep from beneath the titled brim of my pinwheel Steady mobbin’, heavy problems Genocide resynthesize to violence, makes it hard to sympathize Harden, individuals whose feelings is miniscule Soon become criminals if you dark-skinned And you was raised in a project apartment Public Aid made it that your father couldn’t stay He had to part then, left with only a mother The family structure suffers He will soon cling to hustlers, as his guardians He still a boy, needs to fill a void, marchin’ Up the block up to no good, sellin’ in the wrong hood He was taken down by a marksmen At his wake, 8th Grade Graduation picture Last words: Don’t let the habitation get ya Pardoned, Lord have mercy on the fallen Amen, feel like I’m hardened Got the harbinger for the coming of the carpenter Til then, I got some big fish to fry like Marlins Part niggas, steady mobbin’ [Chorus:] I’ve got some questions to ask, and I’m waitin’ on some answers Like, Why do the good die young? Why ain’t there no cure for cancer? Won’t let the streets dicatate my glory Cuz

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January 20th, 2012 by InfoMan | Comments Off

The Difference Between Being Smart, Educated, and Intelligent

I’ve always been intrigued by the subject of intelligence. As a child my mother would refer to me as “smart,” but I quickly noticed that all parents refer to their children as smart. In time I would discover that all children are not smart, just as all babies are not cute. If that were the case, we’d have a world full of beautiful, smart people – which we don’t.

Some of us are smart; but not as smart as we think, and others are smarter than they seem, which makes me wonder, how do we define smart? What makes one person smarter than another? When do “street smarts” matter more than “book smarts”? Can you be both smart and stupid? Is being smart more of a direct influence of genetics, or one’s environment?

Then there are the issues of education, intelligence and wisdom.

What does it mean to be highly educated? What’s the difference between being highly educated and highly intelligent? Does being highly educated automatically make you highly intelligent? Can one be highly intelligent without being highly educated? Do IQs really mean anything? What makes a person wise? Why is wisdom typically associated with old age?

My desire to seek answers to these questions inspired many hours of intense research which included the reading of 6 books, hundreds of research documents, and countless hours on the Internet; which pales in comparison to the lifetime of studies and research that pioneers in the fields of intelligence and education like Howard Gardner, Richard Sternberg, Linda S. Gottfredson, Thomas Sowell, Alfie Kohn, and Diane F. Halpern whose work is cited in this article.

My goal was simple: Amass, synthesize, and present data on what it means to be smart, educated and intelligent so that it can be understood and used by anyone for their benefit.

PRENATAL CARE

With this in mind, there was not a better (or more appropriate) place to start than at the very beginning of our existence: as a fetus in the womb.

There is mounting evidence that the consumption of food that’s high in iron both before and during pregnancy is critical to building the prenatal brain. Researchers have found a strong association between low iron levels during pregnancy and diminished IQ. Foods rich in iron include lima beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, spinach, asparagus, broccoli, seafoods, nuts, dried fruits, oatmeal, and fortified cereals.

Children with low iron status in utero (in the uterus) scored lower on every test and had significantly lower language ability, fine-motor skills, and tractability than children with higher prenatal iron levels. In essence, proper prenatal care is critical to the development of cognitive skills.

COGNITIVE SKILLS

Cognitive skills are the basic mental abilities we use to think, study, and learn. They include a wide variety of mental processes used to analyze sounds and images, recall information from memory, make associations between different pieces of information, and maintain concentration on particular tasks. They can be individually identified and measured. Cognitive skill strength and efficiency correlates directly with students’ ease of learning.

DRINKING, PREGNANCY, AND ITS INTELLECTUAL IMPACT

Drinking while pregnant is not smart. In fact, it’s downright stupid.

A study in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research has found that even light to moderate drinking – especially during the second trimester – is associated with lower IQs in offspring at 10 years of age. This result was especially pronounced among African-American rather than Caucasian offspring.

“IQ is a measure of the child’s ability to learn and to survive in his or her environment. It predicts the potential for success in school and in everyday life. Although a small but significant percentage of children are diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) each year, many more children are exposed to alcohol during pregnancy who do not meet criteria for FAS yet experience deficits in growth and cognitive function,” said Jennifer A. Willford, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Paul D. Connor, clinical director of the Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit and assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington has this to say about the subject:

“There are a number of domains of cognitive functioning that can be impaired even in the face of a relatively normal IQ, including academic achievement (especially arithmetic), adaptive functioning, and executive functions (the ability to problem solve and learn from experiences). Deficits in intellectual, achievement, adaptive, and executive functioning could make it difficult to appropriately manage finances, function independently without assistance, and understand the consequences of – or react appropriately to – mistakes.”

This is a key finding which speaks directly to the (psychological) definition of intelligence which is addressed later in this article.

ULTRA SOUNDS

Studies have shown that the frequent exposure of the human fetus to ultrasound waves is associated with a decrease in newborn body weight, an increase in the frequency of left-handedness, and delayed speech.

Because ultrasound energy is a high-frequency mechanical vibration, researchers hypothesized that it might influence the migration of neurons in a developing fetus. Neurons in mammals multiply early in fetal development and then migrate to their final destinations. Any interference or disruption in the process could result in abnormal brain function.

Commercial companies (which do ultrasounds for “keepsake” purposes) are now creating more powerful ultrasound machines capable of providing popular 3D and 4D images. The procedure, however, lasts longer as they try to make 30-minute videos of the fetus in the uterus.

The main stream magazine New Scientist reported the following: Ultrasound scans can stop cells from dividing and make them commit suicide. Routine scans, which have let doctors peek at fetuses and internal organs for the past 40 years, affect the normal cell cycle.

On the FDA website this information is posted about ultrasounds:

While ultrasound has been around for many years, expectant women and their families need to know that the long-term effects of repeated ultrasound exposures on the fetus are not fully known. In light of all that remains unknown, having a prenatal ultrasound for non-medical reasons is not a good idea.

NATURE VERSUS NURTURE…THE DEBATE CONTINUES

Now that you are aware of some of the known factors which determine, improve, and impact the intellectual development of a fetus, it’s time for conception. Once that baby is born, which will be more crucial in the development of its intellect: nature (genetics) or nurture (the environment)?

Apparently for centuries, scientists and psychologists have gone back and forth on this. I read many comprehensive studies and reports on this subject during the research phase of this article, and I believe that it’s time to put this debate to rest. Both nature and nurture are equally as important and must be fully observed in the intellectual development of all children. This shouldn’t be an either/or proposition.

A recent study shows that early intervention in the home and in the classroom can make a big difference for a child born into extreme poverty, according to Eric Turkheimer, a psychologist at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The study concludes that while genetic makeup explains most of the differences in IQ for children in wealthier families, environment – and not genes – makes a bigger difference for minority children in low-income homes.

Specifically, what researchers call “heritability”- the degree to which genes influence IQ – was significantly lower for poor families. “Once you’re put into an adequate environment, your genes start to take over,” Mr. Turkheimer said, “but in poor environments genes don’t have that ability.”

But there are reports that contradict these findings…sort of.

Linda S. Gottfredson, a professor of educational studies at the University of Delaware, wrote in her article, The General Intelligence Factor that environments shared by siblings have little to do with IQ. Many people still mistakenly believe that social, psychological and economic differences among families create lasting and marked differences in IQ.

She found that behavioral geneticists refer to such environmental effects as “shared” because they are common to siblings who grow up together. Her reports states that the heritability of IQ rises with age; that is to say, the extent to which genetics accounts for differences in IQ among individuals increases as people get older.

In her article she also refers to studies comparing identical and fraternal twins, published in the past decade by a group led by Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr., of the University of Minnesota and other scholars, show that about 40 percent of IQ differences among preschoolers stems from genetic differences, but that heritability rises to 60 percent by adolescence and to 80 percent by late adulthood.

And this is perhaps the most interesting bit of information, and relevant to this section of my article:

With age, differences among individuals in their developed intelligence come to mirror more closely their genetic differences. It appears that the effects of environment on intelligence fade rather than grow with time.

Bouchard concludes that young children have the circumstances of their lives imposed on them by parents, schools and other agents of society, but as people get older they become more independent and tend to seek out the life niches that are most congenial to their genetic proclivities.

BREAST-FEEDING INCREASES INTELLIGENCE

Researchers from Christchurch School of Medicine in New Zealand studied over 1,000 children born between April and August 1977. During the period from birth to one year, they gathered information on how these children were fed.

The infants were then followed to age 18. Over the years, the researchers collected a range of cognitive and academic information on the children, including IQ, teacher ratings of school performance in reading and math, and results of standardized tests of reading comprehension, mathematics, and scholastic ability. The researchers also looked at the number of passing grades achieved in national School Certificate examinations taken at the end of the third year of high school.

The results indicated that the longer children had been breast-fed, the higher they scored on such tests.

TALKING TO YOUR CHILDREN MAKES A DIFFERENCE

Thomas Sowell, author of Race, IQ, Black Crime, and facts Liberals Ignore uncovered some fascinating information that every parent should take note of. He writes:

There is a strong case that black Americans suffer from a series of disadvantageous environments. Studies show time and again that before they go to school, black children are on average exposed to a smaller vocabulary than white children, in part due to socioeconomic factors.

While children from professional households typically exposed to a total of 2,150 different words each day, children from working class households are exposed to 1,250, and children from households on welfare a mere 620.

Yes, smart sounding children tend to come from educated, professional, two-parent environments where they pick-up valuable language skills and vocabulary from its smart sounding inhabitants.

Mr. Sowell continues: Black children are obviously not to blame for their poor socioeconomic status, but something beyond economic status is at work in black homes. Black people have not signed up for the “great mission” of the white middle class – the constant quest to stimulate intellectual growth and get their child into Harvard or Oxbridge.

Elsie Moore of Arizona State University, Phoenix, studied black children adopted by either black or white parents, all of whom were middle-class professionals. By the age of 7.5 years, those in black homes were 13 IQ points behind those being raised in the white homes.

ACCUMULATED ADVANTAGES

At this juncture in my research it dawned on me, and should be fairly obvious to you, that many children are predisposed to being smart, educated, and intelligent, simply by their exposure to the influential factors which determine them long before they start school.

An informed mother, proper prenatal care, educated, communicative parents, and a nurturing environment in which to live, all add up to accumulated advantages that formulate intellectual abilities. As you can see, some children have unfair advantages from the very beginning.

Malcolm Gladwell, author of top-selling book Outliers, wrote that “accumulated advantages” are made possible by arbitrary rules…and such unfair advantages are everywhere. “It is those who are successful who are most likely to be given the kinds of social opportunities that lead to further success,” he writes. “It’s the rich who get the biggest tax breaks. It’s the best students who get the best teaching and most attention.”

With that in mind, we turn our attention to education and intelligence.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE WELL EDUCATED?

Alfie Kohn, author of the book What Does It Mean To Be Well Educated? poses the question, does the phrase well educated refer to a quality of schooling you received, or something about you? Does it denote what you were taught? Or what you remember?

I contend that to be well educated is all in the application; the application and use of information. Information has to be used in order to become knowledge, and as we all have heard, knowledge is power.

Most people are aware of the floundering state of education in this country on some level. We tell our children that nothing is more important than getting a “good” education, and every year, due to government budget shortfalls, teachers are laid off, classes are condensed, schools are closed, and many educational programs – especially those which help the underprivileged – are cut.

The reality is, we don’t really value education. We value it as a business, an industry, political ammunition, and as an accepted form of discrimination, but not for what it was intended: a means of enriching one’s character and life through learning.

What we value as a society, are athletes and the entertainment they offer. The fact that a professional athlete makes more money in one season, than most teachers in any region will make in their careers, is abominable. There’s always money to build new sports stadiums, but not enough to give teachers a decent (and well-deserved) raise.

Ironically, the best teachers don’t go into the profession for money. They teach because it’s a calling. Most of them were influenced by a really good teacher as a student. With the mass exodus of teachers, many students are not able to cultivate the mentoring relationships that they once were able to because so many are leaving the profession – voluntarily and involuntarily – within an average of three years.

At the high school level, where I got my start, the emphasis is not on how to educate the students to prepare them for life, or even college (all high schools should be college-prep schools, right?), it was about preparing them to excel on their standardized tests. Then the controversial “exit” exams were implemented and literally, many high schools were transformed into testing centers. Learning has almost become secondary.

This mentality carries over into college, which of course there’s a test one must take in order to enroll (the SAT or ACT). This explains why so many college students are more concerned with completing a course, than learning from it. They are focused on getting “A’s” and degrees, instead of becoming degreed thinkers. The latter of which are in greater demand by employers and comprise the bulk of the self-employed. The “get-the-good-grade” mindset is directly attributable to the relentless and often unnecessary testing that our students are subjected to in schools.

Alfie Kohn advocates the “exhibition” of learning, in which students reveal their understanding by means of in-depth projects, portfolios of assignments, and other demonstrations.

He cites a model pioneered by Ted Sizer and Deborah Meier. Meier has emphasized the importance of students having five “habits of mind,” which are: the value of raising questions about evidence (“How do we know what we know?”), point of view, (“Whose perspective does this represent?”), connections (“How is this related to that?”), supposition (“How might things have been otherwise?”), and relevance (“Why is this important?”).

Kohn writes: It’s only the ability to raise and answer those questions that matters, though, but also the disposition to do so. For that matter, any set of intellectual objectives, any description of what it means to think deeply and critically, should be accompanied by a reference to one’s interest or intrinsic motivation to do such thinking…to be well-educated then, is to have the desire as well as the means to make sure that learning never ends…

HISTORY AND PURPOSE OF IQ

We’ve always wanted to measure intelligence. Ironically, when you look at some the first methods used to evaluate it in the 1800s, they were not, well, very intelligent. Tactics such as subjecting people to various forms of torture to see what their threshold for pain was (the longer you could withstand wincing, the more intelligent you were believed to be), or testing your ability to detect a high pitch sound that others could not hear.

Things have changed…or have they?

No discussion of intelligence or IQ can be complete without mention of Alfred Binet, a French psychologist who was responsible for laying the groundwork for IQ testing in 1904. His original intention was to devise a test that would diagnose learning disabilities of students in France. The test results were then used to prepare special programs to help students overcome their educational difficulties.

It was never intended to be used as an absolute measure of one’s intellectual capabilities.

According to Binet, intelligence could not be described as a single score. He said that the use of the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) as a definite statement of a child’s intellectual capability would be a serious mistake. In addition, Binet feared that IQ measurement would be used to condemn a child to a permanent “condition” of stupidity, thereby negatively affecting his or her education and livelihood.

The original interest was in the assessment of ‘mental age’ — the average level of intelligence for a person of a given age. His creation, the Binet-Simon test (originally called a “scale”), formed the archetype for future tests of intelligence.

H. H. Goddard, director of research at Vineland Training School in New Jersey, translated Binet’s work into English and advocated a more general application of the Simon-Binet test. Unlike Binet, Goddard considered intelligence a solitary, fixed and inborn entity that could be measured. With help of Lewis Terman of Stanford University, his final product, published in 1916 as the Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Scale of Intelligence (also known as the Stanford-Binet), became the standard intelligence test in the United States.

It’s important to note that the fallacy about IQ is that it is fixed and can not be changed. The fact is that IQ scores are known to fluctuate – both up and down during the course of one’s lifetime. It does not mean that you become more, or less intelligent, it merely means that you tested better on one day than another.

One more thing to know about IQ tests: They have been used for racist purposes since their importation into the U.S. Many of those who were involved in the importation and refinement of these tests believed that IQ was hereditary and are responsible for feeding the fallacy that it is a “fixed” trait.

Many immigrants were tested in the 1920s and failed these IQ tests miserably. As a result, many of them were denied entry into the U.S., or were forced to undergo sterilization for fear of populating America with “dumb” and “inferior” babies. If you recall, the tests were designed for white, middle class Americans. Who do you think would have the most difficulty passing them?

Lewis Terman developed the original notion of IQ and proposed this scale for classifying IQ scores:

000 – 070: Definite feeble-mindedness

070 – 079: Borderline deficiency

080 – 089: Dullness

090 – 109: Normal or average intelligence

110 – 119: Superior intelligence

115 – 124: Above average (e.g., university students)

125 – 134: Gifted (e.g., post-graduate students)

135 – 144: Highly gifted (e.g., intellectuals)

145 – 154: Genius (e.g., professors)

155 – 164: Genius (e.g., Nobel Prize winners)

165 – 179: High genius

180 – 200: Highest genius

200 – higher ?: Immeasurable genius

*Genius IQ is generally considered to begin around 140 to 145, representing only 25% of the population (1 in 400).

*Einstein was considered to “only” have an IQ of about 160.

DEFINING INTELLIGENCE

Diane F. Halpern, a psychologist and past-president of the American Psychological Association (APA), wrote in her essay contribution to Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid that in general, we recognize people as intelligent if they have some combination of these achievements (1) good grades in school; (2) a high level of education; (3) a responsible, complex job; (4) some other recognition of being intelligent, such as winning prestigious awards or earning a large salary; (5) the ability to read complex text with good comprehension; (6) solve difficult and novel problems.

Throughout my research and in the early phases of this article, I came across many definitions of the word intelligence. Some were long, some were short. Some I couldn’t even understand. The definition that is most prevalent is the one created by the APA which is: the ability to adapt to one’s environment, and learn from one’s mistakes.

How about that? There’s the word environment again. We just can’t seem to escape it. This adds deeper meaning to the saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” It means recognizing what’s going on in your environment, and having the intelligence adapt to it – and the people who occupy it – in order to survive and succeed within it.

There are also many different forms of intelligence. Most notably those created by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University.

Dr. Gardner believes (and I agree) that our schools and culture focus most of their attention on linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence. We esteem the highly articulate or logical people of our culture. However, Dr. Gardner says that we should also place equal attention on individuals who show gifts in the other intelligences: the artists, architects, musicians, naturalists, designers, dancers, therapists, entrepreneurs, and others who enrich the world in which we live.

He felt that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on IQ testing, was far too limited and created the Theories Of Multiple Intelligences in 1983 to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults.

These intelligences are:

Linguistic intelligence (“word smart”)

Logical-mathematical intelligence (“number/reasoning smart”)

Spatial intelligence (“picture smart”)

Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence (“body smart”)

Musical intelligence (“music smart”)

Interpersonal intelligence (“people smart”)

Intrapersonal intelligence (“self smart”)

Naturalist intelligence (“nature smart”)

Not associated with Dr. Gardner, but equally respected are:

FLUID & CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE

According to About.com, Psychologist Raymond Cattell first proposed the concepts of fluid and crystallized intelligence and further developed the theory with John Horn. The Cattell-Horn theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence suggests that intelligence is composed of a number of different abilities that interact and work together to produce overall individual intelligence.

Cattell defined fluid intelligence as “…the ability to perceive relationships independent of previous specific practice or instruction concerning those relationships.” Fluid intelligence is the ability to think and reason abstractly and solve problems. This ability is considered independent of learning, experience, and education. Examples of the use of fluid intelligence include solving puzzles and coming up with problem solving strategies.

Crystallized intelligence is learning from past experiences and learning. Situations that require crystallized intelligence include reading comprehension and vocabulary exams. This type of intelligence is based upon facts and rooted in experiences. This type of intelligence becomes stronger as we age and accumulate new knowledge and understanding.

Both types of intelligence increase throughout childhood and adolescence. Fluid intelligence peaks in adolescence and begins to decline progressively beginning around age 30 or 40. Crystallized intelligence continues to grow throughout adulthood.

SUCCESSFUL INTELLIGENCE

Then there’s Successful Intelligence, which is authored by intelligence psychologist and Yale professor, Robert J. Sternberg, who believes that the whole concept of relating IQ to life achievement is misguided, because he believes that IQ is a pretty miserable predictor of life achievement.

His Successful Intelligence theory focuses on 3 types of intelligence which are combined to contribute to one’s overall success: Analytical Intelligence; mental steps or components used to solve problems; Creative Intelligence: the use of experience in ways that foster insight (creativity/divergent thinking); and Practical Intelligence: the ability to read and adapt to the contexts of everyday life.

With regard to environment, Mr. Sternberg writes in his book Successful Intelligence: Successfully intelligent people realize that the environment in which they find themselves may or may not be able to make the most of their talents. They actively seek an environment where they can not only do successful work, but make a difference. They create opportunities rather than let opportunities be limited by circumstances in which they happen to find themselves.

As an educator, I subscribe to Mr. Sternberg’s Successful Intelligence approach to teaching. It has proven to be a highly effective tool and mindset for my college students. Using Successful Intelligence as the backbone of my context-driven curriculum really inspires students to see how education makes their life goals more attainable, and motivates them to further develop their expertise. Mr. Sternberg believes that the major factor in achieving expertise is purposeful engagement.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

In his best-selling 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman reported that research shows that conventional measures of intelligence – IQ – only account for 20% of a person’s success in life. For example, research on IQ and education shows that high IQ predicts 10 to 25% of grades in college. The percentage will vary depending on how we define success. Nonetheless, Goleman’s assertion begs the question: What accounts for the other 80%?

You guessed it…Emotional Intelligence. What exactly is emotional intelligence? Emotional intelligence (also called EQ or EI) refers to the ability to perceive, control, and evaluate emotions. Many corporations now have mandatory EQ training for their managers in an effort to improve employee

relations and increase productivity.

TACIT KNOWLEDGE aka “STREET SMARTS”

You’ve heard the phrase, “Experience is the greatest teacher…”

In psychology circles knowledge gained from everyday experience is called tacit knowledge. The colloquial term is “street smarts,” which implies that formal, classroom instruction (aka “book smarts”) has nothing to do with it. The individual is not directly instructed as to what he or she should learn, but rather must extract the important lesson from the experience even when learning is not the primary objective.

Tacit knowledge is closely related to common sense, which is sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts. As you know, common sense is not all that common.

Tacit knowledge, or the lessons obtained from it, seems to “stick” both faster and better when the lessons have direct relevance to the individual’s goals. Knowledge that is based on one’s own practical experience will likely be more instrumental to achieving one’s goals than will be knowledge that is based on someone else’s experience, or that is overly generic and abstract.

BEING BOTH SMART AND STUPID

Yes, it’s possible to be both smart and stupid. I’m sure someone you know comes to mind at this precise moment. But the goal here is not to ridicule, but to understand how some seemingly highly intelligent, or highly educated individuals can be so smart in one way, and incredibly stupid in others.

The woman who is a respected, well paid, dynamic executive who consistently chooses men who don’t appear to be worthy of her, or the man who appears to be a pillar of the community, with a loving wife and happy kids, ends up being arrested on rape charges.

It happens, but why? I found the answer in Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid. Essentially, intellect is domain specific. In other words, being smart (knowledgeable) in one area of your life, and stupid (ignorant) in another is natural. Turning off one’s brain is quite common especially when it comes to what we desire. A shared characteristic among those who are smart and stupid, is the difficulty in delaying gratification.

Olem Ayduk & Walter Mischel who wrote the chapter summarized: Sometimes stupid behavior in smart people may arise from faulty expectations, erroneous beliefs, or merely a lack of motivation to enact control strategies even when one has them. But sometimes it is an inability to regulate one’s affective states and the behavioral tendencies associated with them that leads to stupid and self-defeating behavior.

The central character in this book who many of these lessons regarding being smart and stupid revolve around is Bill Clinton and his affair with Monica Lewinksky.

WISDOM & CONCLUSION

My great grandmother, Leola Cecil, maybe had an 8th grade education at the most. By no stretch of the imagination was she highly educated, but she had what seemed like infinite wisdom. She was very observant and could “read” people with startling accuracy. Till the very end of her life she shared her “crystallized intelligence” with whomever was receptive to it.

She died at the age of 94. I often use many of her sayings as a public speaker, but most importantly, I use her philosophies to make sure that I’m being guided spiritually and not just intellectually. Many of us who are lucky enough to have a great grandparent can testify that there is something special about their knowledge. They seem to have life figured out, and a knack for helping those of us who are smart, educated and intelligent see things more clearly when we are too busy thinking.

What they have is what we should all aspire to end up with if we are lucky: wisdom.

Wisdom is the ability to look through a person, when others can only look at them. Wisdom slows down the thinking process and makes it more organic; synchronizing it with intuition. Wisdom helps you make better judgments regarding decisions, and makes you less judgmental. Wisdom is understanding without knowing, and accepting without understanding. Wisdom is recognizing what’s important to other people, and knowing that other people are of the utmost importance to you. Wisdom is both a starting point, and a final conclusion.

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January 17th, 2012 by InfoMan | Comments Off

The Most Common Causes of Yeast Infection

Adult humans have 3 to 4 pounds of beneficial bacteria, numbering about 70 trillion individual organisms, living in our digestive system. Yeast is present in every one of us. The shear strength in numbers of the beneficial bacteria keeps yeast in check. They are in charge and make yeast produce vitamins, such as the B complex, within our bodies. If this balance is altered by reducing the good bacteria, yeast, being very opportunistic, will spread and take over as a yeast infection or as a fungal parasite or candida (mold), causing a wide variety of unhealthy side effects and diseases.

The most common cause of yeast infection is antibiotics and their overuse

Dr. John Pitt, on Penicillum in 1979 stated: “It is very ironic that this humbled fungus, hailed as a benefactor of mankind, may by its very success prove to be a deciding factor in the decline of the present civilization”.

Simply stated, antibiotics are dangerous mycotoxins, fungal metabolites, that kill bacteria, even the good bacteria that are present in our intestines and essential for good health. This upsets the delicate balance of the yeast to bacteria ratio in your digestive system, giving the yeast fungi the upper hand in creating a yeast infection. Without the good bacteria in your system to control yeast, it spreads and becomes a toxic fungal parasite known as candida.

Penicillin is a good example of a fungal by-product called a mycotoxin. It was discovered from a mold (mold is a fungus) experiment that Dr. Fleming was performing on a bacteria colony. He added some mold from bread to the colony and observed that the fungus killed all the bacteria; producing the substance he later named penicillin. The number one cause of yeast infection was born in 1928 and is so over-prescribed today that yeast infection is a growing epidemic.

Another cause of yeast infection and the destruction of stomach flora are anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and naproxen…

These two drugs are common over the counter medications that many people take. Very few people realize what they are doing to their health by taking them. America has become a nation of drug dependent people. Not a night goes by when you don’t see a TV commercial for some kind of drug promising some miraculous cure for something. These drugs all contribute to the destruction of bacteria and are a cause of yeast infection.

Another cause of yeast infection, theorized by some doctors, are birth control pills given to women. In the natural menstrual cycle of women, right after ovulation on about the 18th day, both progesterone and estrogen decline to very low levels. At the same time estradiol begins to rise into menses and then these three hormones return to normal. Most birth control pills contain estradiol in significant amounts and add to this problem.

The hormone link as a cause of yeast infection for women is very common. Almost all women that suffer from recurring vaginal yeast infections will tell you that they do indeed get flare ups at the third week of their cycle. . Fortunately, there are now natural herbs and supplements to treat and balance the hormones to eliminate this problem. Like colloidal silver as a minerals supplement.

According to the 2001 Asthma and Allergy Report, the first immunodeficiency syndrome was identified in 1952. Since that time 95 more have been identified with new conditions being discovered every day. The report also states that increased use of antibiotics in infancy is contributing to increased risks of allergies. What is interesting to me is in the 1950’s antibiotics came into wide spread general use in medicine. Do you see a correlation here?

The most common prescription for antibiotics is for upper respiratory infections, but according to Dr. Carol Kauffman, “most of these infections are caused by a fungus”. So they do not require an antibiotic as treatment, yet doctors continue to prescribe them. This, over time, will alter the balance in stomach bacteria allowing the yeast to overgrow, and the result is candida, or worse. And by using colloidal silver as a mineral supplement it will solve this problem.

Doctors plead ignorance when their patients develop allergies, intestinal disorders, etc, not even realizing that the very drugs they prescribed are the cause of a yeast infection and these other fungal diseases. Over time, your good stomach bacteria become overwhelmed by yeast as it kills even more of your good bacteria. Candida or fungal disease is the result. By using colloidal silver as a mineral supplement for treating yeast infection it will not affect natural flora. Colloidal Silver safely kills over 650 disease-causing bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and molds, has no negative side-effects (the body requires silver for tissue regeneration and promotes the replacement of specialized cells) and is absolutely safe for human consumption.

It becomes a never-ending cycle. You get an antibiotic for your cold or flu; women especially get a vaginal yeast infection. The doctor gives them an anti-fungal or an anti-fungal cream, or they purchase it over the counter at the local drugstore. The infection is beaten for a time, but then it returns. This will continue to happen until the cause of yeast infection is addressed with natural therapies as colloidal silver natural and diet.

In 1998, two scientists Bernstein and Ross discovered that antibiotics “significantly increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in humans”.

In studies done on mice in 2000 and published in “Principals and Practices of Infectious Diseases”, a “single injection of streptomycin eradicated the protective effective effect of normal flora”. Streptomycin is prescribed usually for people that are allergic to penicillin and definitely establishes one of the causes of yeast infection to antibiotics.

Now it would be a rare individual that could go through life with never being prescribed an antibiotic. Choose wisely if you really need to take them or not for whatever it is you have at the time, since they are the main cause of yeast infection in humans. Have your doctor prescribe Nystatin with it to avoid the overgrowth of yeast infection. Then get on a good probiotic product such as Total Immune Booster, which actually does grow new bacterial colonies. For several decades, silver has proven itself in the treatment of burns, and eye, ear, nose, throat, vaginal, rectal, and urinary tract infections. Silver has been prescribed as an adjunct treatment for reproductive disorders in women and the circulatory system, as well as a treatment for AIDS infective complications. (For use on the following we reccomend you purchase the colloidal silver as it is smaller and more effective: It has been used as a remedy for allergies, boils, ulcers, lesions, thyroid conditions, infantile diseases, parasites, wounds of the eye, enlarged prostate, warts, bladder inflammation, infections of the inner ear, sleepwalking and anorexia nervosa.) Colloidal Silver also acts as a tissue regenerator by stimulating the production of de-differentiating cells, which promotes the replacement of specialized cells.

The following is a partial list of the more than 650 disease conditions in which colloidal silver has demonstrated proven clinical improvement: Acne, Acne Rosacea, Anthrax Bacilli, Arthritis, Athlete’s Foot, Blood Poisoning, Bladder Infections, Bubonic Plague, Blood Parasites (causes gray hair), Cancer, Candidia (Yeast Infection), Chilbains, Cholera, Chronic Fatigue, Colitis, Conjunctivitis, Cystitis, Dermatitis, Diabetes, Diptheria, Dysentery, Eczema, Fibrositis, Gastritis, Gonorrhea, Hepatitis, Herpes Virus, Hay Fever, Impetigo, Influenza, Keratitis, Leprosy, Leukemia, Lupus, Lyme Disease, Lymphagitis, Malaria, Meningitis, Neurasthenia, Ophthalmia, Pheumonia, Pluerisy, Pruritis Ani, Psoriasis, Pymphagitis, Rheumatism, Rhiritis, Ringworm, Rosacea, Scarlet Fever, Seborrhea, Septicemia, Shingles, Skin Cancer, Staph Infection, Stomach Flu, Strep, Syphilis, Tonsillitis, Toxemia, Trench foot, Trachoma, Tuberculosis, Whooping Cough. It is also used for all bacterial, fungal and viral attacks on plants. Simply spray diluted silver on the leaves and add to soil water.

Foods as a Cause of Yeast Infection

There are many foods that can be a cause of yeast infections but antibiotics are the primary cause of yeast infection due to the fact that they kill beneficial bacteria in the intestines. This allows the yeast and fungi to take control and proliferate in the human body. Antibiotics are also present in many common foods that most of us eat. More recently antibiotics are now being detected in the water supply from our overuse. The wastewater enters the sewer system, which is then treated, and pumped right back into the water table. The antibiotics are never removed and it becomes a never-ending circle.

How do these antibiotics get in our foods?

The most common foods that can be a cause of yeast infections in America are beef and dairy. The livestock industry gives antibiotics to their cattle, this is supposed to kill bad bacteria and make the food supply safer. But they are also used to fatten up cows. A fat cow will sell more than a thin cow, won’t it? These antibiotics are getting into the dairy product food chain. They are present in milk, cheese, and the meat itself. This is creating antibiotic resistance in humans and bad bacteria, not to mention the long-term health effects to our children, and it ultimately destroys the beneficial bacteria in our intestines allowing a yeast infection to grow in your body.

They also shove these cows into unnatural feeding environments and fatten them up with grain foods that can be a cause of yeast infections, making the meat unfit for human consumption due to mold contamination. The meat can become loaded with mycotoxins from these molds. You eat it, and it is passed on to you.

Other foods that can be a cause of yeast infections are grain foods. Wheat, oats, barley, rye, sorghum, corn, red apples, and peanuts are also universally contaminated with fungus. These foods find their way into our systems from cereals, pastas, breads, potato chips, crackers, peanut butter, cooking oils, etc.

How can this be, you wonder? Grains are usually stored in silos for extended periods of time. They can be stored for years before they are ever sold and brought to market for food processing. During this time, they grow molds in these silos. Now I would assume when they go to process these grains for human consumption they would wash them, but the molds and mycotoxins will enter into the inside of the grain as they try to break them down into dirt. The grains get ground up for processing, and the rest is history. The worst of these grains, as far as mold contamination, are sold for livestock feed and alcohol processing–beer mostly.

Other foods that can be a cause of yeast infections are peanuts, corn, and red apples, which will actually grow mold on them as they grow. Peanuts also are the most genetically engineered food on the planet, stick too organic.

These foods can kill the beneficial bacteria in our digestive system because of the molds they are contaminated with. They also allow the yeast to grow since the yeast eats the sugars in these foods. They often sit in the intestine and ferment before digestion, which causes a condition known as dysbiosis, or toxic colon. These toxins alter good bacterial supplies and yeast gains the upper hand.

Mycotoxins from molds and fungi are also known cancer-causing agents that are released by molds and yeasts. One of these mycotoxins, called aflatoxin, happens to be the most carcinogenic substance on earth. In the common diets of today, grains are consumed in all three meals in some form, from cereals to breads and pastas. So every day the average American is consuming .15mg to .5mg of aflatoxin.

The western diet of today, due to sugars and molds in the foods we eat, is a cancer-causing machine. The addition of these sugars allows the yeast to thrive unbeknown to many people that have it, and allows it to inject its own mycotoxins into your body. This will suppress the immune system and lead to other autoimmune system diseases such as cancer, lupus, multiple sclerosis, crohns, arthritis, skin disorders, chronic fatigue, depression, fibromyalgia, etc. if left untreated.

Chlorine is added to the water supply of the US to kill parasites, microbes, and bad bacteria present in our drinking water supply. But when you drink this water directly from your tap, the chlorine kills the good bacteria in your intestines. To chlorine, bacteria is bacteria, it doesn’t know the difference from good or bad.

Fluoride also is a cause of yeast infection and killer of, not only intestinal bacteria, but also enzymes, which are the building blocks of all life and work on the cellular DNA level, as well as in the process of digestion and immune system health.

Buying a water distiller and using this water to not only drink, but to also cook with. It is the only system that will remove fluoride from your drinking water besides reverse osmosis, which makes the water too acidic. Fluoride has been found, when used for cooking, to release toxic metals from common cooking utensils. So called bottled spring water in independent testing is not always safe either, due to pollutants in the air, coming to the ground in rain, and getting in the water table, it can be just as bad for you. You also have tons of run off from fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, and other chemicals in the water supply. A lot of so-called spring water is really just filtered tap water. The industry is not regulated very strongly, so you can’t always be sure what you are really drinking. Buy a water distiller for your drinking and cooking needs. It will last a lifetime and be one of the best health investments you have ever made.

So how do we avoid these molds and antibiotics in our foods that can be a cause of yeast infection?

In almost every store in the country you can buy hormone and antibiotic free beef. Buy it, eat it, and simply don’t buy the rest.

Cut down on grain foods that cause yeast infections drastically by eliminating the chips, cookies, cakes, cereals, and pastas. Substitute pastas with rice that you have to fry first for a grain.

Eat more organic eggs for breakfast and organic milk if you must. And don’t worry about cholesterol, which is caused by mycotoxins in the blood stream, sugar, and trans fats, and is also an immune system response to these mycotoxins from fungus. Take away the mycotoxins and junk food and your cholesterol will be just fine.

Cause of Yeast Infection and the Immune System

Another cause of yeast infection is a generally weakened or deficient immune system.

How does the immune system get worn down enough to be a cause of yeast infection in the average person?

Many times a person has had an illness or injury and their health is never the same again. The body has been damaged too severely for the immune system to repair the cells properly, although it never stops trying. Over time, the immune system weakens to the point it can no longer defend the body. Instead, it focuses on other processes more important for continued life.

Every day we are exposing ourselves to polluted air from the smog from our cars and power plants, which, if coal-fired, deliver acid rain containing mercury to the ground that enters the food chain. Mercury, aluminum, lead, and excess iron are definitely linked to chronic yeast infections. If your levels are high and you do nothing to solve the problem, you will not get rid of your candida yeast infection.

There are now traces of over 300 toxins in our bodies that were not present before 1940. These toxins have been shown to bind to receptors, blocking important enzymatic reactions in the body weakening the immune system.

Chemicals in the home from soaps, laundry detergents, toothpastes, perfumes, cleaning solvents, etc. are causes. I could go on and on in this area. Even carpet is made of petroleum and plastics that are toxic. The effect is cumulative, it takes time, but yeast or other diseases are always the result.

Our foods are more and more genetically engineered and their food value becoming more and more questionable. Modern farming has stripped the soils of all minerals and vitamins, so foods have very little value any more. According to a report released at the 1992 Earth Summit, the USA has the worst soil in the world – 85% depleted. The rest of the world’s soils are not much better, with South America and Asia’s soils being 78% depleted, Africa 75%, Europe 70%, and Australia 58%. This means the potency of our food supply is not able to sustain optimum health. Is it any wonder we are overweight and chronically ill? We are literally starving to death from lack of nutrition!

Pesticides are used that kill beneficial soil based organisms that used to be a part of our diets from the family farms of old. We add chemicals to dairy foods to give it a longer shelf life.

The average American eats over 7 pounds of sugar a year which is creating a Type 2 diabetic epidemic in this country. Obesity is at an all time high from sugar and processed grains which themselves are turned to sugar when digested. The pancreas kicks in some insulin that picks up the sugar and deposits it on the body as fat. Fat is the fuel the body was originally designed to run on, not sucrose.

Sugar contributes to the cause of yeast infections by feeding the fungus in the body allowing it to grow and spread. Sugar is also by far the number one thing that can wear down your immune system. It is worse than smoking.

All of our food is cooked, processed, and enzymatically dead, this causes the pancreas an additional load, and it, must create more enzymes to digest these foods. The metabolic enzymes are forced to help out with digestion when they should be helping repair cells and removing wastes.

We vaccinate our children with basically poisons in the name of good health that actually weaken their immune systems.

Another very common cause of yeast infection is mold growing in ventilation systems. I have personally seen this condition inside air conditioners. These mold spores blow into the home, and once you breath them, they can travel through the body, causing asthma and bronchitis.

Predisposing Causes of Yeast Infection

Trauma
Altered Physiological states
Drug Addiction
Endocrine problems
Indwelling catheters
Blood disorders and neutropenia
Corticosteroid therapy
Reduced or dysfunctional phagocytosis
Irradiation
Transplantation
Diabetes
Malnutrition
Burns
Collagen disease
All these things contribute as a cause of yeast infections today and weaken our immune systems. Bacteria are our first line of defense in our immune systems, and all these things can and do contribute to help kill them.

It is becoming more and more necessary to take supplements every day to maintain a healthy body and a healthy immune system. Even the AMA recently suggested that everyone in the country should be on a multivitamin/mineral supplement for example like colloidal silver.

The trick is to take quality supplements and eat mostly good fresh foods. Drink plenty of clean fresh water to flush out poisons and wastes from the body while minimizing environmental toxins in the home.

The benefits? You will go through life healthier, more energetic, happier, and live to a ripe old age, if you so choose.

Candida and yeast infections cannot be beaten with diet alone; it simply will not work without good supplements to support cellular health as by using colloidal silver.

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January 7th, 2012 by InfoMan | Comments Off

Offshore Oil Rig Jobs

While many of the offshore oil rig jobs are physical in nature, many of the rig companies go out of their way to make sure your time spent onboard is an enjoyable one. For instance employees may find themselves living in accommodation wings that meet 4 or 5 star hotel standards – despite the fact that you a living in the middle of the ocean. While you are on board the company will usually meet all food, board and laundry expenses, along with travel and transfer costs.

There are a large number of offshore oil rig jobs that are available. The range of employment opportunities include:

Driller, Derrickman, Shakerhand or Mudman, Toolpusher, Floormen or Roughnecks, Motorman, Assistant Driller, Crane Operator, Roustabouts, Cleaner/Painter, Storekeeper, Mechanic/Electrician, Sub Sea Engineer, Rig Mechanic, Rig Electrician, Rig Welder, Barge Engineer, Ballast Controlman or Watchstander, Captain and Chief Engineer, Rig Medic and Safety Man.

Most offshore oil rig jobs call for a 14/21 day rotation that means you work for 14 days and have 21 off. This equates to you having approximately 3/5 of the year off on holiday.

In the offshore oil rig industry, there are opportunities for drilling employment and travel to countries such as: Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, the United States, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Mexico, Russia, Norway, China, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Typically salaries for roustabouts and roughnecks (drill deck workers) are approximately US $300 per day. Annual salaries work out to be approximately US $47,000.

More specialized jobs such as that of Driller is likely to make around $56,000 per annum, which Toolpushers, Drill Leaders and Supervisors are likely to earn around the US $75,000 – $100,000 mark per year.

Entry level positions typically make between US $50,000 – US $80,000 per annum. Trades, technical and professional positions will likely earn between US $70,000 – US $220,000 per annum.

Life Offshore

- You will be issued with safety boots hard hat safety glasses and coveralls.

- Keep a good attitude and be focused on why you wanted to work offshore.

- There are smoking rooms at various places on a rig where safety matches will be supplied.

- For meals you take off your work gear and eat in the galley.

- You may have to work a night shift or two as an oil rig is a 24 hour operation.

- Don’t upset the radio operator, medic or chef. Helicopters, medical attention and food are most important.

Aboard an oil rig every piece of lifting equipment has a color code on it – this is an indication that it was tested as safe to use on the last lifting equipment check. Only items with the current color code on them should be used.

When working in the petroleum industry, don’t bring alcohol, illegal drugs, weapons (of any description) including knives, flammable items, lighters and matches (safety matches will be provided in the smokers room) when working on energy jobs.

If working aboard an offshore rig, remove batteries from electrical equipment before checking in you luggage. If you are to be transported by helicopter your mobile phone may be taken from you before you board the helicopter.

A number of people working aboard oil rigs work are in support roles such as catering crew and doctors, etc. The following is an outline of what may be expected for doctors or medics. Because of the physical size of rigs, many of these types of roles are sole charged and one must be able to make do with the facilities and resources at end. In the case of doctors or medics based aboard oil rigs, it may be necessary to treat patients suffering from a huge variety of ailments and illnesses. Issues can arise as a lot of the workers aboard oil rig installations may speak foreign languages, so it is critical for the medical personnel to be able to quickly and effectively diagnose the problem. Generally medical staff will work one of two shifts, either day or night. Their role can often also include checking and maintaining stocks of emergency supplies, testing and verifying drinking water supplies are clean, as well as inspecting both raw and cooked foods from the kitchen. They are also often responsible for conducting weekly first aid seminars for all workers aboard the oil rig.

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January 2nd, 2012 by InfoMan | Comments Off

Alcohol and the HCG Diet

Alcohol, in Moderate Quantities( 2-3 drinks a week) Does Not Prevent Weight loss on HCG Diet Any More than In Any Other Weight Loss Program.

Contrary to what many people write, its possible to drink alcoholic drinks and still lose weight. A healthy lifestyle should be able to accommodate some drinking, especially if you make the right choices. Whether it’s healthy to have a single drink every day is still in question. The problem often comes up that many people; especially ones struggling with their weight have difficulties stopping at one. Moderation is something some overweight people don’t know; otherwise they probably would not be overweight in the first place. When you are drinking more than one or two drinks, then things begin to change and it’s not just the calories.

Alcohol and Calories:

Alcohol causes far more significant problems than might appear by looking at the number of calories in a drink. After all, a glass of wine is only 90 calories, a shot of vodka or whiskey is only 95 calories and a light beer can be as low as 65-75 calories. If it’s not the calories, then what is it that makes drinking alcohol and losing weight so difficult?

Alcohol Has “Empty Calories”!

There are no nutritional benefits to alcohol That’s not disturbing since we don’t expect many health benefits in the first place. We all drink for different reasons. I have never heard some say they drink a beer or a vodka and tonic to improve their health. Many people do drink red wine because some people, mostly the French say it’s “healthy” and they think it will prolong their lives and prevent heart disease or strokes. Let’s face it, that’s just an excuse men tell their wives when they want to drink. Maybe the Mediterranean lifestyle is healthier, but drinking red wine is only one of the many features of the Mediterranean lifestyle. Most Americans I talk to love to pick the parts of the Mediterranean diet they like such as the wine and discard the rest-like the walking, the small portions and the absence of fatty and salty snacks. It’s like picking the parts of the Atkins diet-unlimited meat, cheese and other high calorie fatty foods, and then sneaking in the bread or pasta. It just doesn’t’ work.

Drinking Alcohol is often Accompanied by Eating Bad Snacks.

In the US alcohol is accompanied by some high calorie, salty and fatty snacks with absolutely no portion control It’s the chips, crackers, trail mixes, pretzels, nuts, cheese, and wings that add all the calories. Many of the snacks are salty which makes people thirstier, guess what they do? They just drink some more..and it’s not water!

Drinking Alcohol Makes Portion Control Difficult and it Stimulates Appetite.

Alcohol suppresses control, the brain’s ability to say it has had enough-of both alcohol and food. At the same time it makes people more hungry. The combination of more hunger with less control is very dangerous for some dieters. No doubt the lowering of inhibitions and will power that follows drinking may account for many of the problems including not only the large amount of bad snacks, but the wrong choices in entrees and much large portions. Compare the calories after 2 or 3 glasses of wine in a small French restaurant and then try the same in the Cheesecake Factory! Recent studies reveal that drinking a single glass of alcohol is accompanied by an average increase of 120 calories!

Alcohol and Mixes Have Enormous Calories-NOT Acceptable in the HCG Diet

The mixes used in alcoholic drinks are full of sugar. This is a “NO-NO” in the HCG Diet. Just the mix alone may be twice the calories of the hard liquor. Look at a Pina Colada for 300-400 calories, a Margarita for 300 calories or a simple gin and tonic or vodka and cranberry juice at 250 calories. The alcohol part of all of these drinks was no more than 95 calories. Take a look at the mixes-all are carbs filled with rapidly absorbed sugar that ends up immediately around your belly. Sugar content easily exceeds 30 grams in some of these mixes.

Alcohol Stops Fat Burning- It Decreases Your Metabolism and May Interfere with HCG’s Effect on Metabolism

When we eat protein, fat, or carbs, some of the food is burned immediately and some of it is stored for future use. However, this does not occur when drinking alcohol. Alcohol is used for metabolism first, and is used for energy until all of the alcohol is gone from the blood stream. As this is happening, the body cannot use protein, fat or carbs for metabolism and turns them into fat. Less than 5 percent of the alcohol calories you drink are turned into fat. The beer belly occurs not because alcohol is turned into fat but because for long periods of time the alcohol instead of the stored fat, is being used for energy. Remember, what is not burned turns to fat, and if alcohol is around, everything you eat turns to fat.

Alcohol Causes Poor Sleep:

Small amounts of alcohol make you feel sleepy but too much alcohol results in poor sleeping, often the result of falls in blood sugar in the middle of the night. Some people wake up and eat. Poor sleeping in itself contributes to weight gain. As we all age, our metabolism slowly decreases. Most of us don’t need to further decrease it by daily alcohol!

How Often Can I Drink Alcoholic Beverages?

It’s usually not the calories of the alcohol that are the problem in a diet plan, but the other effects that make weight loss difficult. A good plan is to limit drinking to no more than 3 days per week, usually the weekends and special events at the most. Drinking every night, especially for relief of stress, often alone, should be avoided. Most individuals, especially those with slow metabolism due to age or a sedentary occupation, simply cannot afford to further lower their metabolism every day of the week by the nightly consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Choosing the “Right” Alcoholic Beverage:

Deciding to drink alcohol is a very personal choice. The secret, similar to the key to selecting foods, is to make the best choice among all of the many possibilities. Similar to the process of choosing foods, the smart dieter keeps the calories as low as possible and avoids high-calorie mixes, often containing lots of carbs that cause hunger, such as juices or tonic. At the same time, he seeks drinks where there is possible “dilution” with zero-calorie fillers. Examples of the latter are soda water mixed with scotch, vodka, or whiskey; and diet cola with rum. Using these zero-calorie “fillers” results in larger volumes of beverages, each having fewer calories. In social situations, it gives the dieter something to hold in his or her hand and feel part of the crowd.

Alcohol and the HCG Diet: Avoid It If You Can… Careful if You Must

After talking with hundreds and hundreds of people on the HCG diet the best advise I can give is this:

1. Avoid alcohol -if you can.

2. 2 or 3 drinks of straight alcohol(vodka, scotch, rum, whiskey, gin etc) per week is probably acceptable

3. Mixes containing sugar and beer ( light or not) are not acceptable on the HCG diet

4. White and red wine are acceptable, again 2-3 glasses a week total.

5. As in any other weight loss plan: No bad snacks, no drinking for stress, drink for fun on the weekends

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December 30th, 2011 by InfoMan | Comments Off

The story of Bill 04

Bill Wilson told his story with confirmation by Lois Wilson.

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April 21st, 2011 by InfoMan | Comments Off

Time of war. First Chechen War-2/5

Original name: Первая чеченская. На войне, как на войне. (First Chechen war. The war is like a war) Year: 1999 Genre: documentary Director: Igor Osechkin Production: NTV, Russia. About: A documentary based on war footages shot by lance-sergeant Constantin Kamrukov. Commented by C. Kamrukov.

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April 12th, 2011 by InfoMan | Comments Off

Scotland’s Alcohol problem

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April 10th, 2011 by InfoMan | Comments Off

drink Division 1-A history of drinking in America

Binge Drinking in America: Part I of 3 What if an American President used to buy alcohol for, to be chosen at random? What happens if a prosecution for federal judge stopped drinking alcohol? While only few would deny that alcohol is a problem for our society, many would be surprised to know that we drink less today than in earlier periods in our history. This is the story of America from the bottom of the glass seen, and the surprising role alcohol has played in our nation's history.

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April 4th, 2011 by InfoMan | Comments Off