CountryGal

Living in the country has been the best decision my husband and I have ever made. We ride to work together and love coming home to peace and quiet.  Our lab Max greets us every evening with a smile and then leads us home. We have two beautiful daughters (inside and out) who have grown up to be loving and caring adults.

My health focus is on reducing external stress in my life and improving my internal health by taking a Vitamin D supplement, as well as other essential nutrition products. 

I work @ Swanson Health Products as the Web Quality Assurance Specialist. 

Ahhhhh, the good ol' standby, tuna macaroni hotdish/casserole for dinner.  Tuna and it's 'cousin' albacore are making headlines again.  This time Consumer Reports (CR) has the latest on how much to consume per week and the dangers of eating too much, especially for pregnant women.

I keep a can opener in my office drawer because lunch for me is opening a can of tuna and eating it right from the can at my desk....at least three times a week!  According to CR, the heavy metal accumulates in tuna and...Read More »

We all know the most common resource for natural health information is the internet, i.e., e-health! You are probably reading this article because you search blogs for information on nutrition, vitamins and supplements or just health information in general.

One goal of e-health is to provide quality information on the Internet. It is estimated that 50-80% of Internet users search for health information on the web (Miller & West, 2009). With online capabilities rising, an astonishing 57% reported...Read More »

Everyone needs to pull an all-nighter from time-to-time, but people who regularly skimp on z's can't undo sleep deprivation's detrimental effects by simply hitting the snooze button on weekends, says a new study in the journal Science of Translation Medicine. You may think you feel better after sleeping in on a Sunday morning, but it is short lived, according to the study. Continuing to ignore your body's need for sleep has a cumulative effect on performance because lack of sleep raises levels...Read More »

Did you know Bone Health primarily affects women?  This is because of the physiological, nutritional, and hormonal differences between males and females.  Bone Mass - the amount of mineral in the bone - generally peaks between the ages of thirty and thirty-five.   A number of factors are known to influence an individuals risk of bone loss. The first, and probably the most important, is the peak bone mass achieved in adulthood, the larger and denser the bones are to begin with, the less...Read More »

Here are 5 easy stress relief help steps to reduce anxiety in your everyday life:

1.  Start your day with a green-apple scented shampoo. Try Desert Essence Green Apple & Ginger and it's 100% Vegan. MRI brain scans show you'll calm the forefront of the brain, which governs emotions.

2. Reduce stress with sea salt! It's rich in soothing magnesium and calcium and helps relax the nervous system, ease muscle tension, and is even effective against the blues...it also makes for good skin health! (This...Read More »

Experience the best in healthy cooking (limiting your intake of saturated fats and hydrogenated oils) by using flaxseed oil as your cooking oil of choice. Flaxseed oil includes the healthy essential fatty acids benefits found in flaxseed. Here's a quick and easy recipe featuring many natural organic foods that you can get from Swanson Health Products at a great price!

Recipe: Udon Noodles with Garden Fresh Tomato Sauce

• 8.8 ounces Japanese Udon noodl...

Read More »

You've probably gotten these surveys through email, Facebook, and other social networking tools, right? Well, after going through a life-changing event this past year, I'd like to share with you (and my family) what makes me happy.

My happy-life mantra...Life is Good!

My favorite stress buster is...take a few deep breaths and go for a walk. 

The life lessons I want to pass on to my kids are...be positive, laugh at your mistakes, and if someone or something is bothering you - learn to let it go!... Read More »

Hurt no more!  New research reveals just a few surprising tweaks to your diet can reduce breast discomfort fast! 

• Cut back on caffeine and chocolate!       Easier said than done, right!?  Especially when the chocolate looks this yummy!    Coffee, tea, and chocolate contain methylxanthines, natural stimulates that encourage cyst growth.  Noncancerous cysts are a source of breast pain for more than half of all women at some point!  Get back your good skin health!

• Eat a fruit salad!  The fiber in...

Read More »

A 54 year old woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital.

While on the operating table she had a near death experience.
Seeing God she asked "Is my time up?"

God said, "No, you have another 43 years, 2 months and 8 days to live."

Upon recovery, the woman decided to stay in the hospital and have a
face-lift, liposuction, breast implants and a tummy tuck. She even had
someone come in and change her hair color and brighten her teeth! Since she
had so much more time to live, she figured...Read More »

Are you too busy, intimidated or scattered to meditate?  Here are 5 beginner-friendly meditation techniques to try for wellness and stress relief help. I just completed the Basic Breathing Meditation and now feel so relaxed.  Since I walk almost every day, I will try to combine the Breathing & Listening Meditation with the Walking Meditation.

Listening Meditation:  This listening practice is a way of interacting with the environment that allows you to take in the whole energy of the present...Read More »