Joan’s Boomer Blog

If you have asthma, Chronic bronchitis or emphysema, or COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) it’s very important to work with your doctor to manage your treatment. However, practicing yoga breathing techniques can improve the condition of your lungs and the quality of your life, no matter what your age, and you don’t have to do yoga to benefit from these exercises.

Deep breathing has benefits for everyone, not just those who suffer from lung conditions. Most of us breath shallowly and one of the best relaxation techniques you can do is to take several deep, slow breaths.In fact, deep breathing can even help speed up your metabolism and help you lose weight.

I’ve been doing yoga consistently for about 3 years and slow, deep breathing, done in conjunction with flowing body movements has made my lungs and joints feel 100% better than they used to. About three months ago, I started studying tai chi which also emphasizes deep breathing which corresponds to body movements. Having become more conscious of my breath, I find that I’m breathing deeper much more often throughout my day.

Both yoga and tai chi are so relaxing that I’m sorry I didn’t take them up many years ago!

If you don’t want to take a yoga class, or don’t have time, here are some helpful tools to teach you yoga deep breathing techniques. It won’t take long to improve your lung health, and feel more relaxed and energized.

Breathe - Guided Yoga and Breathing Exercises To Relax and Revive Rodney Yee is a favorite of mine and I have several of his Yoga Cds. His voice is relaxing and he takes you through various breathing exercises for health and relaxation. This one also includes some simple relaxation yoga poses.

Functional Fitness for COPD and Asthma - an on demand rental from Amazon which you can use for 7 days for just $1.99. If you decide you like the exercises in the video, you can also purchase it. These exercises require no special equipment and can help reduce the symptoms of asthma and COPD, plus there is some explanation of these conditions.

Yoga Breathing - Guided Meditations for Beginners. Don’t be put off by the word meditation in the title. Meditation focuses on breath and breath is what you need to improve if you have COPD or Emphysema. This is an MP3 download and you can listen to samples and then download the entire MP3 for $4.95 or individual breathing meditations for 99 cents each.

Here’s one I just started using on the basis of a recommendation in Yoga Journal: The Practice of Pranayama: An In-Depth Guide to the Yoga of Breath. I have been looking for a guide that would help me learn the art of yogic breathing and this 7 CD set is a complete program. If you have any type of lung or breathing problems, you don’t have to do yoga to benefit from this practice.

Pranayama is a Sanskrit word with two parts. Prana, meaning life force or breath, and yama, meaning to suspend or to control. Pranayama is control of breath and this 8 hour, 155 track CD breathing program, Richard Rosen says, (from Yoga Journal) will help “your breath will smooth and lengthen, your mind will become calm and clear….and you will gradually fine-tune the dial of your consciousness.”

Read more about the benefits of deep breathing and some simple breathing exercises.

Natural Remedies for COPD, Emphysema and Asthma

Read more about COPD on WebMd

Guest post byLovera Wolf Miller and David C Miller, authors of WOMENOPAUSE: STOP PAUSING AND START LIVING

The Beatles and Menopause: Waisted Resonance

Who could have guessed that four mid-twenty-year-olds living in England forty some years ago would pen two songs describing the most intensely personal menopause problems facing women in the US in 2010? Both songs recorded in the summer of 1969 are pure pop prophecy: “Carry That Weight” and “She’s So Heavy”. Weight gain in midlife is numero uno in women’s confidential “I can’t stand it” list.

Right or wrong, almost every woman wishes her waist would shape up. However, a preoccupation with the waistline does not, by itself, improve the waistline. This article will expose The Metabolic Syndrome, take the wraps off how it ruins figures, and detail what can be done about it.

Adult women almost universally gain weight beginning at age twenty, and during perimenopause, most women gain more than a pound a year. In times past, 20 or 30 extra pounds were considered merely a cosmetic problem. Today we know differently. If those pounds are concentrated at the waist (as they usually are) it may mean a serious health problem: The Metabolic Syndrome. There is something uniquely different about those fat cells.

One important distinction: at the waist there are two types of fat. The subcutaneous fat that lies on the surface is metabolically different from the abdominal fat that resides inside of the abdomen. The inside “visceral” fat disrupts glucose metabolism and secrets inflammatory compounds that injure the cardiovascular system.

There are five measurable factors that define The Metabolic Syndrome: 1) a waistline measurement (at the belly button) greater than 35 inches, 2) triglycerides greater than 150, 3) HDL-C less than 50, 4) blood pressure greater than 130/85, 4) fasting blood sugar over 100. Any three of the five portend serious health risk and the waistline measurement alone may be the crucial part of the whole deal.

The Metabolic Syndrome is a silent partner that operates behind the scenes undermining the health of the cardiovascular system. The Metabolic Syndrome turns what looks like a figure problem into a life and death struggle. The following are some of the medical misfortunes awaiting those with The Metabolic Syndrome: heart attack, stroke, diabetes, dementia, depression, premature death, and others, not the least of which, it almost completely eliminates a woman’s interest in wearing a swim suit!

Menopause gets blamed for midlife weight gain, but there is a lot more to it than that. Certainly, declining estrogen after age forty changes a woman’s metabolism, and in complicated ways, makes a more conducive environment for synthesizing fat compared to younger women. Fretting about not being young may sabotage the present joys of maturity and is pointless. Adjusting how we live makes more sense. Remaining trim or regaining a trim figure is absolutely achievable by every woman, but it does not happen by wishful thinking. Waistlines are created like a sculptor creates a fine statue—she keeps chipping away day after day, one little hard chip after another.

The Metabolic Syndrome is caused by, shall we say, less than optimal life style choices. Please notice the word “choices”, because The Metabolic Syndrome is completely optional and all of the contributing factors are under our control. At the top of the cause list is weight gain followed by: smoking, uncompensated caloric intake, high carbohydrate diet, and sedentary activities (by the way, isn’t “sedentary activities” an oxymoron?)

Good news! All of the principle causes for The Metabolic Syndrome are fixable. Of course, we are not talking “easy to fix” but what easy thing is there that matters? For a jumpstart on shaping your waist consider doing the following for 3 months. We call this Fast 4 Fit: 1) walk 15,000 steps a day, 2) no sugared drinks, 3) no bread (of any kind), 4) no potatoes. Simple enough. For the long haul, (and we are all in it for the long haul aren’t we?) we must adhere to the following:

· A). Eat only real food (whole fresh food that does not have any labeling on it describing its contents) and not too much of it. Eat mostly foods with color.

· B). Exercise everyday like our life depended upon it (that’s because it does).

· C). Lose weight and shoot for a BMI under 25,

· D). Measure your waist regularly and inch down under 35 at a minimum.

· E). Become smoke free.

· F). Supplement your otherwise perfect diet with 2 grams of fish oil and 800 mcg of Folic Acid.

· G). Take blood pressure medication as prescribed by your doctor.

· H). Take Metformin as prescribed by your doctor.

· I). Take lipid lowering medication (like Lipitor) as prescribed by your doctor.

· J). Substitute Benecol for butter or margarine.

· K). Consider taking Menopausal Hormone Therapy in consultation with your gynecologist.

It is never too late, and there will never be a better day than today to become healthier. It is not a matter of staying young or turning back the clock. It is a matter of here and now and being the best we can be. Getting back into a better shape has some bonuses in addition to improved health and longevity. We can become an inspiration to our spouses, kids, and friends. Presently, over 40% of US women over the age of sixty have The Metabolic Syndrome. Speaking of that, it brings to mind another Beatles song from 1967. It is the question inherent in aging “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m sixty-four?”

For more information about The Metabolic Syndrome and menopause (but sadly not more about the Beatles!), check out our book: WOMENOPAUSE: STOP PAUSING AND START LIVING available at Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, or Boarders. Visit us at: www.womenopausebook.com or send us questions and feedback: womenopausebook@mac.com

Many seniors suffer from chronic lung diseases like COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), chronic bronchitis, emphysema or asthma. It’s important to work with your doctor and follow prescribed treatments for these lung problems but there are many natural remedies which boost lung health, increase lung capacity and ease symptoms. Following a good lung health program can keep these debilitating health issues from getting worse and in many cases, help them improve.

Recently I had a case of bronchitis, something I haven’t had in many years. An xray showed “chronic bronchitis” or emphysema, probably a hold over from my time as a smoker many years ago. I quit smoking for good when I became pregnant with my daughter 25 years ago but some damage was done.

I spent 10 years as a hospital corpsman in the Navy and I saw people of all ages dragging oxygen bottles around behind them, barely able to breathe. The thought of that always scared me, but not enough to make me stop smoking at the time.

With visions of oxygen tanks dancing in my head, I had some decisions to make. At this point, the doctor was not telling me I needed inhalers or medications, only that if I got a bad cold or bronchitis again, I’d have to start treatments right away to avoid it making this lung condition worse. I’m very glad now that the health program I’ve been on for the past 15 years was aimed at increasing my immune system so I only rarely even get colds, much less bronchitis.

I’ve always been very proactive when it comes to health and finding alternative remedies for any health condition that comes up. Lung problems and breathing conditions have many alternative therapies to improve the quality of life and slow the progression.

The first thing I did was purchase a POWERbreathe Plus 2 Fitness Model Lung Muscle Trainer - A couple of years ago, our daughter, who played softball in college, was having breathing problems due to allergies and I got her one of these to work with. She said using the Powerbreathe twice a day really expanded her lung capacity and made it easier to breathe. I thought this would be just the thing to help me improve my breathing and open my airways. I’ve worked with it almost daily for a couple months and I’ve really noticed the improvement. The Powerbreathe has really helped my lungs feel clearer and I can breathe deeper since using it. It’s easy to use and easy to keep clean as well.

Foods for Lung Health

We drink green smoothies so it’s easy to incorporate foods for lung health but even if you aren’t a green smoothie fan, you can eat some of these foods daily:

Increase the antioxidants in your diet by eating lots of fruits and veggies, especially those containing carotenes:

• carrots
• sweet potatoes
• yellow squash
• leafy green vegetables

As a natural remedy for serious lung conditions such as COPD, be sure you get at least 9 servings of fruits and veggies daily. Eat lots of blueberries, broccoli, spinach and other healthy foods packed with antioxidants.

Drink lots of green tea and white tea - These drinks are loaded with antioxidants and nutrients which boost the immune system.

Eat Flax seeds or chia seeds - great sources of Omega 3 Fatty Acids and other lung healthy nutrients.

Improve Your Immune System with Supplements for Lung Health

• Astragalus -a Chinese tonic herb that enhances immune function. You can find it at your local health food store in a a tincture or capsule form. Look for standardized astragalus and follow dosing instructions.
• Co-Enzyme Q10 or CoQ10 improves the use of oxygen at the cellular level. Take at least 60 mg twice a day of the softgel form. CoQ10 works best when taken with a meal containing some fat.
• Vitamin D not only increases immunity to colds and flu but it also helps improve lung function in those with asthma, COPD and other lung diseases. Many, if not most, patients with lung illnesses test deficient in Vitamin D. The best source of Vitamin D is D3. Dr. Andrew Weil recommends 2,000 IU daily.
• Omega3 Fatty acids are healthy fats which improve heart function but are also great for the lungs. The American Heart Association recommends 2 to 4 grams per day, either from supplements or from sources like fish, chia seeds or flax seeds.

More Information on boosting your immune system naturally.

Gentle Exercise Improves COPD, Emphysema and Asthma

Exercise increases lung capacity and stamina, both of which are lost in chronic lung conditions. Start by walking, increasing speed and distance or take a water aerobics class, which is good for building your body but easy on your joints.

Try yoga - Yoga is a gentle stretching exercise that focuses on deep breathing. Yoga can build your body, your lungs and your immune system.

Tai Chi is another gentle form of flowing exercise that focuses on breathing.

Functional Fitness for COPD and Asthma - an on demand rental from Amazon which you can use for 7 days for just $1.99. If you decide you like the exercises in the video, you can also purchase it. These exercises require no special equipment and can help reduce the symptoms of asthma and COPD, plus there is some explanation of these conditions.

Practice Deep Breathing Exercises to increase lung capacity.

Other Natural Remedies for Health

Try the Healing Code by Alex Lloyd. This simple 6 minute process has helped thousands heal naturally from any health problem.

Brush and floss your teeth - Bacteria from gum disease can worsen conditions like chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Read Dr. Mercola’s article on this topic.

Stay tuned for more natural remedies for COPD, Emphysema and Asthma. Tomorrow’s posting will be about yoga breathing techniques to improve lung capacity. If you’re a baby boomer approaching retirement, you want to enjoy the second half of life and not be side-lined by chronic lung diseases.

My husband and I are embracing the raw food diet - not all the way, mind you. We still like our barbecue and

Raw food recipe for powerball snack

steamed veggies. However, we’ve started drinking Green Smoothies - the ultimate raw food - and I’m making more raw food snacks and large salads.

The raw food diet is just that. You don’t eat anything cooked as it destroys valuable digestive enzymes and nutrients. I have a raw food cookbook and the only cooking you do involves a dehydrator set to no higher than 115 degrees. If you’re in your baby boomer years, your body isn’t assimilating nutrients like it once did so you need all the digestive enzymes you can get. You’ll feel healthier and many of your health issues will disappear.

Green Smoothies are easy to incorporate into your diet. You simply make a tasty smoothie in the morning and drink 1-2 quarts of it during each day. Add any fresh, raw veggies you have and some fruit.

I’ve also discovered raw food recipes for snacks. These are super easy snack recipes because you mix up ingredients but don’t have to cook them. Here is one raw food snack recipe I created yesterday. Compare them to any expensive energy bar and I think you’ll like these much better.

These raw food power balls are full of energy creating superfoods so they are great to eat between meals or after a workout:

Raw Food Power Ball Snack Recipe

Ingredients

3/4 cup sliced raw almonds (you can substitute any other raw nuts if you prefer)
1/8 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4cup coconut shredded
1 cup mixed dried fruit (I found a great antioxidant mix at Costco with dried cherries, cranberries and blueberries)
1/2 cup raw honey
1 cup raw peanut butter (you can also use other raw nut butters)
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Using a food processor or Vitamix, blend the first 4 dry ingredients to a meal stage. Don’t make a fine powder out of it, just chop for about 20 seconds.

Put dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and add dried fruit, cinnamon, peanut or other raw nut butter, and honey. Mix thoroughly.

Once your raw food ingredients are mixed, form into balls of about 1 1/2 inches and put into a glass container with a tight fitting lid. I put tin foil between my rows so they don’t stick together.

Refrigerate for 24 hours and enjoy.

These raw food powerballs will keep in the frig for 2 weeks - if they last that long! I send them to work with my husband for his lunch and snack on them after my yoga class.

This recipe makes about 30 raw food power balls.

The great thing about this recipe is you can change up ingredients to suit yourself. They are a quick and easy snack that requires no baby sitting a hot oven for several hours.

If you’re interested in healthy aging, you should be eating more raw food recipes. Eating raw foods can help ward off eye diseases like cataracts and macular degeneration, cancer, heart disease, arthritis and more.

If you’d like to know more about Green Smoothies, click here for more info. Get free shipping on your Vitamix if you don’t own one already. I’ve found so many uses for my Vitamix I can’t imagine what I did without it.

More information on the raw food diet at Best of Raw Food.com

he Healing Code by Dr. Alex Lloyd seems to be everywhere lately. Any book promising to help heal the source of any health, relationship or success issue was a book I had to read. The

The Healing Code is a new book by Dr. Lloyd and Dr. Ben Johnson which presents their astonishingly effective 6 minute healing code process which, according to those who use it daily, is nothing short of miraculous.

As I near age 60, every trip to the doctor seems to bring hints of health issues to come. I’ve had a strange tingling sensation throughout my body for the past 3 years which no medical person has been able to help me with. I am literally never sick, but recently contracted a severe case of bronchitis. A chest xray showed “chronic bronchitis” and thinning of the bones. Joy, Joy!

Right now I take no medications of any sort but I can see though, that in future, medical doctors are going to do their best to convince me I need drugs to survive.

The Healing Code by Alex Lloyd offers an alternative to medical treatments and prescription drugs, which have side effects of their own. It can be used in conjunction with any medical treatment you are currently using. This offers a totally unique system of healing code points that have never been used before now. It’s different acupuncture, EFT, or other methods you may have tried.

How does this healing code process work? Using it eliminates the negative emotions and thoughts that are holding you back from success, health, or whatever you want in life. Once you eliminate these negatives, you body can heal, you are free live a creative, abundant life. And you don’t even have to know exactly what these issues are for the system to work.

The process can also help with many issues. It can help you achieve goals you have, find success and fulfillment in many areas of your life.  Doing this simple 6 minute healing code process daily is a powerful technique to build your immune system, help you with any health or relationship issue, eliminate stress, or become more successful and abundant.

One thing I really appreciated about The Healing Code is that once you purchase your copy on Amazon, you can register it on The Healing Code Book website. Once you’ve done this, you receive free gifts and a detailed test which will personalize the healing code process for you and help you define what you should work on with the practice. There is also an informative newsletter that goes along with the registration if you want one.

The Healing Code also offers extensive information on:

The Seven Secrets of Life, Health, Prosperity

A Ten second technique to eliminate daily stress

The heart Issues Finder, that personalized test I mentioned which helps you identify your own source issues.

The Healing Code by Dr. Alex Lloyd and Dr. Ben Johnson is something truly new and different to help you heal the issues in your life, whether they are to do with health, money, relationships or any issue that is holding you back from being all you can be in your life. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Whatever issues you have in your life, you owe it to yourself to try this simple process.

Order your own copy today at a discount from Amazon and see what The Healing Codes can do for you.

If you are under a doctor’s care always follow his or her advice, while trying the Healing Code.

Joan’s Boomer Blog - Joining the Green Smoothie Revolution

Recently my husband and I joined the Green Smoothie Revolution and I wanted to blog about how Green Smoothies can help baby boomers. Many people I’ve met who are passionate about Green Smoothies are young mothers who want to improve their family’s nutrition. Boomers and seniors like me are concerned with healthy aging - maintaining optimal health as we get older. We are experiencing health issues such as arthritis, high cholesterol and maybe diabetes.Maybe we don’t maintain our weight as easily as we used to.

As we age, our bodies don’t take in and use nutrients this they did, leaving us vulnerable to a lowered immune system and results of aging. Can green smoothies help us aging boomers get more out of life?

Why Drink Green Smoothies?

What is your normal daily diet? Do you eat processed foods (foods that come in a package and are full of unpronounceable ingredients?) Do you eat lots of cooked foods, with maybe a small salad for dinner to get your “greens?” Do you have health issues?

Believe me, the health issues are intimately tied to you daily diet. Green smoothies can offer whole, raw veggies like broccoli, kale, Swiss Chard, and mustard greens. You can even throw beet and carrot greens in to your green smoothie recipe so you waste less food. AND these foods are uncooked which is important because cooking often destroys many of the nutrients in our veggies.

Since the foods are blended, the super nutrition is more readily available to your body to increase energy, boost your immune system, help you lose weight and be healthier. Green Smoothies are quick and convenient too, once you get your foods and a powerful blender. They keep for up to 48 hours in the frig so you can make them ahead of time.

Since I decided to start making Green Smoothies for my husband and me, I wanted to blog about the experience, offering recipes and tips to get you started and to let you know what Green Smoothies can do for healthy aging.

Many of my friends already are green smoothie converts. They’ve told me they experience:

• more energy
• improved digestion, including more regular bowel movements and soft stools
• fewer cravings for sugar and processed foods
• improved, more stable moods
• weight loss - an average of over 17lbs!
• increased desire to exercise (couldn’t we all use that!)

Others report less pain from arthritis, improved sex drive, less stress, shinier hair, stronger fingernails and smoother, clearer skin tone. All this after only 30 days on green smoothies!

How Much Green Smoothie Do You Need to Drink?

Optimum consumption is about one quart a day, four or more days per week but you can start with less.

Green smoothies are a lifestyle change. I’m going to start growing sprouts, making kefir, growing spinach and making lots of dietary changes. Check back in coming days to see how the green smoothie revolution is working out for this baby boomer.

Once I decided to embark on the Green Smoothie lifestyle, my next step was to research blenders. Green smoothies do require more power than your average smoothie blender. I look at all of them, read reports and asked friends who are already making green smoothies. Find out tomorrow which blender met the challenge.

More Green Smoothie Information and Recipes

Add These AntiAging Foods to Your Daily Diet

As much as 90% of how well we age is related to lifestyle choices that we make every day. An AntiAging Diet can keep our minds and bodies functioning at peak capacity well into our senior years. Antiaging foods keep our muscles, joints and bones in good repair so we suffer less from arthritis and lack of balance. Antiaging foods keep our memory sharp and help ward off diseases like cancer and heart disease, which can be debilitating, if they don’t kill us, that is.

Here are some antiaging foods that you can add to your daily diet. You’ll notice the difference in the way you feel very quickly.

1.  Water - Sounds strange doesn’t it? That water is an important antiaging diet ingredient? Water keeps toxins and cancer causing waste materials flushed from your body. Joints which are well hydrated function better too. Drink 6-8 glasses of water daily.

2.  Nuts - Nuts contain heart healthy omega3 fatty acids, protein and fiber. It doesn’t take many nuts either. Sprinkle walnuts or sliced almonds on your salad or cereal daily. Contrary to popular opinion, even thought nuts have fat, it is a source of good fats that actually help our heart and cholesterol levels.

3.  Ginger - Ginger is a great anti-inflammatory food and inflammation is believed to be the cause of many illnesses and diseases people get as they age, such as arthritis and heart disease. Ginger is good for the digestion and is a good cure for indigestion. It works better than taking antacids and other medications.

4.  Garlic - Garlic helps lower cholesterol and is also an anti-viral, anti-bacterial food. Eat fresh, crushed garlic when possible. If you’re coming down with a cold, crush some garlic, let it set a few minutes and then mix it with butter and put on toast. Don’t heat the garlic. This is my go-to remedy for colds and sore throats and it works every time.

5.  Cruciferous Vegetables are among the best anti-aging foods around. Brocolli, turnips, cauliflower, and cabbage also are anti-cancer foods. Slice up a few turnips into soup or sprinkle chopped cabbage into your salad or steamed veggies.

6.  Berries - Blueberries top the list of nutrient rich, antioxidant packed foods but all berries contain antioxidants. Keep bags of them in the freezer to use in cereal, smoothies or mix with yogurt as a dessert.

7.  Chia Seeds These seeds are so tiny that 1/4 teaspoon is considered a serving. Make Chia Gel for smoothies or sprinkle chia seeds into cereal, yogurt, stir fry or just about any food.

8.  Green Tea - contains lots of anti-cancer and anti-aging ingredients. Drink 4-5 cups per day. If you aren’t fond of green tea, try some flavors mixed with fruit. Black tea is a good substitute. It doesn’t have all the antiaging properties of green tea but it does contain lots of antioxidants. Add a slice of lemon as this boosts the power of green tea by about 20%.

If you’re on an anti-aging diet, skip the sugar and processed foods. Sugar causes many of the illnesses and diseases that go along with aging and processed foods contain chemicals which can cause cancer, obesity and other health issues.

Read more about anti-aging foods you can easily add to your daily diet.

Read More about Being Healthier with Superfoods

Proper Golf Attire Shows Respect for the Game

Golf is fun and it’s also a terrific form of exercise. If you play golf, you know that part of golf etiquette is showing up in appropriate golf clothes. Many private golf clubs even require a certain dress code, which includes golf attire. Here are some tips on choosing what to wear to the golf course.

Proper golf clothing includes shorts but they must be especially designed for golf. Don’t wear denim, cut-offs or gym shorts to play and they should be cut just above the knee. Ladies may wear a women’s golf skort to play, as well as short or long pants.

Golf pants and shorts both should have cuffs to fill with dirt and a leather belt should be worn, so you need belt loops on golf attire.

Be sure to wear matching colors when playing golf, a pair of classical neutral shorts or pants in tan, black or brown is a good choice. Only on cartoons will you see clashing plaids worn to swing a golf club.

Special golf shoes are made just to play golf. No tennis shoes or sandals should be worn, and most golf clubs require soft spikes, not metal spikes, which tear up the golf course. You should always bring street shoes to change into once you are finished playing.

Be sure to match your socks to your golf pants or shorts too. Wear lightly colored socks if you choose golf shorts and if you wear long pants, the socks should match your golf pants.

Golf shirts, including ladies golf shirts, should have a collar.

Hats are appropriate on the golf course. Either baseball style or a straw golf hat can be worn. Hats are a good idea. They help keep the sun off your face, and may improve your vision. Either baseball style or straw golf hats are appropriate.

If the weather is cold, you can wear golf sweater, or men’s or ladies golf jackets.

Most important of all, proper golf attire shows respect for the game.

Where to buy Chia Seeds

The health benefits of adding chia seeds to your diet are astounding. Chia seeds are the new superfood and a very important ingredient to your daily regimen if you are interested in healthy aging. Are you looking for quality chia seeds to use in your chia seed recipes and gel? You probably won’t find them at your local grocery store but you can now visit our new Chia Seed Store on Amazon.com

For our Chia Seed Store, I’ve chosen the best brands of chia seed, books on chia seeds and their benefits and even some of the ever-popular chia pets and chia sprouting gardens.

Health Benefits of Chia Seeds in your Daily Diet

Among the benefits of chia seeds are their high content of omega3 fatty acids, which are beneficial in protecting us from high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, arthritis and more.

You can buy a pound of chia seed for about $12 and it takes only a couple teaspoons to make 8oz of chia gel. All you need is about 1/4 tsp sprinkled on yogurt, cereal or other foods to get the superfood nutrition.

Read more about the health benefits of chia seeds or pick up a book on chia seeds at Amazon.com. Many of the chia seed products in our store quality for free shipping if you purchase $25 or more on your Amazon order. I have a wish list of Amazon products so if I need something else to bring me up to the free shipping level, I go to my wish list and add something.

Healthy Drinks - Delicious Tea Recipes

The Health Benefits of Green Tea are very well known, but you can also get health benefits from Black tea as well. (Read more about the health benefits of Green Tea here.) For baby boomers interested in health, drinking as little as 3-4 cups of tea daily can reduce the risk of strokes, boost metabolism, help protect you from cancer and much more.

The benefits of green tea include healthy aging, especially if you replace more sugary drinks like soda, with tea.

Some people don’t care much for the taste of green tea so in these recipes, you can substitute black tea also. However, give green tea a try. With these delicious additions to your cup of hot tea or iced tea, you won’t even notice it’s good for you too!

Ginger Orange Tea

Ginger is a great antioxidant, metabolism booster and stomach soother. It’s also great for colds. The tart taste of orange makes this a delightful summer drink recipe.

Ingredients

2 quarts of water

3 one inch pieces of fresh ginger root, sliced thin

1 Tbs honey

1 orange, sliced

Directions for Tea

Put water and ginger root into a medium sized sauce pan. Bring water to a boil, then turn to simmer for 30 minutes. Allow to stand and cool for another 30 minutes.

Add honey and orange one hour before serving.

Strain and serve over ice. You can also reheat and serve hot.

Mint Tea Recipe

Mint is energizing and refreshing and sprigs of fresh mint can be added to any tea you have sitting in the frig. To make mint tea, try this slow cooker recipe.

Ingredients

2 quarts hot water

honey or stevia to taste

8 tea bags (green or black)

2 drops mint extract

Directions

Put water and sweetener into crock pot. Add tea bags and mint extract and cook on low for 2 hours.

Makes 8 servings and can be served hot or over ice.

You can create variations of the above tea by adding other ingredients:

1 tsp almond extract or other flavor of extract you might prefer

2/3 cup lemon juice

1 orange sliced

1 cup cranberry or other fruit juice

1/2 tsp cinnamon (good for lowering cholesterol!)

Other tasty tea recipes, which would make deliciously refreshing drinks for your next get-together

Discover Cooking with Green Tea for added health benefits and great taste too.

50 Hot and Cold Tea Recipes in Green Tea: 50 Hot Drinks, Cool Quenchers, and Sweet and Savory Treats

Read what Dr. Mercola has to say about the many benefits of drinking green tea.