Dr. Myatt’s Christmas Gift Ideas and suggestions
Written by Wellness Club on November 26, 2008 – 2:42 pm -
Nurse Mark Comment:Be sure to check out these suggestions if you are looking for a bargain – Our subscribers and Wellness Club Members gave us such great feedback on last year’s Gift Suggestions Article that Dr. Myatt has again this year negotiated special discounts for Wellness Club Members and HealthBeat News subscribers!And, don’t forget that you can give the gift of good health anytime – just call me at 1-800-Dr Myatt (1-800-376-9288) and tell me that you would like to give someone you care for a Wellness Club Gift Certificate. We’ll send it in the amount of your choice to the person of your choice with the message of your choice in a nice card.Christmas Gift Ideas and SuggestionsBy Dr. "Santa" MyattForget "Black Friday"! (That doesn’t even SOUND good, does it?).
Music Boxes and Musical Jewelry Boxes.
They have a "Listening Station" where you can hear the tunes played (very neat!), and a custom engraving service if you want to further personalize your gift. Prices range from under $20 to big bucks, but you can give a fabulous gift for $40-$100. An excellent and delightful gift for both men and women, and perfect for the person who already "has everything." (Bet they don’t have one of these)! Their shipping is lightening-fast. You’ll have your gift in a couple of days. Use the "sort by price" feature if you’re looking for a unique gift under $50. Order through this special Wellness Club member link and get an additional 10% off the already-affordable prices: Wellness Club members and HealthBeat subscribers save an additional 10% off at Music Box Attic on any purchase by using Coupon Code "percent10". Sink and/or Shower Water Purifier.
A very thoughtful and healthful gift. Head over there today if you want to grab a "special" they’re featuring: both sink and shower purifiers in a smokin’ deal combo package. They also feature an auto-ship filter replacement service, very nice since all water purifiers must have regular filter changes to function optimally (and many people forget this important step).
Organic Salmon and Seafood. We all know that salmon is healthy, but only if it is wild caught Pacific salmon. Vital choice has some of the finest salmon and seafood available anywhere, delightfully packaged for easy gifting. Recommended by Dr. Perricone, Dr. Christiane Northrup and of course by Dr. Myatt! Not cheap, but some of the highest quality seafood and other organic products money can buy.
Flowers, Live Plants, Gift Baskets and More. This is my favorite flower delivery company, but I hesitate to call them just "flower delivery" because they have so much more. Great gift baskets, including wine and cheese baskets, plus living plants that will be treasured long after the holidays are past. Best of all, you can shop from hundreds of arrangements from home and most can be delivered the very same day. (I wouldn’t recommend waiting until the day before Christmas to order, however). This is a great resource to keep on hand for other holidays, birthdays, sympathy, get well, anniversaries. They have been voted "Best Online Florist" a number of times. Shop for Flowers, live plants and gourmet gift baskets. Looking for Something Really Special? How about a luxury cruise vacation? Whether to local ports of call like Hawaii or Alaska, or someplace warm like the Caribbean or Bahamas, or a fabulous tour of Europe, cruising is the preferred way to vacation. Unpack only once and see many beautiful ports of call, enjoy world-class buffets and entertainment daily, and be pampered by the finest luxury spas by day. Search cruises by length, location, price (and these folks offer a "low price guarantee," meaning you won’t find a great cruise for less anywhere). Imagine how surprised your special someone would be to receive tickets for a cruise vacation! Nifty Gifts Under $20. Got a list of friends you’d like to gift, but can’t afford to spend a fortune on each one? Collections has a large selection of nifty gifts, nothing over $20. You’re sure to find something suitable for the "friends" list. Their gifts also make great stocking-stuffers. A note of caution: the gifts are good quality, as represented in the catalogue. But they come in funky, junky Chinese-made boxes and bags. Expect to re-box these items to show them in their best light. Other than that, this is a great place for inexpensive presents (including some fabulous, inexpensive gifts for kids). Order through this link and get an additional 15% off any total over $65 — but hurry! These special prices are only good until Nov. 30th, 2008. Remember Our US Troops for Christmas. Head on over to Healthy Troops and send a service man or woman a care package for the Holidays If you send a package now, they will still receive it in time for Christmas. You don’t have to personally know a troop; we’ve got lots of them signed up and requesting these packages. Or (I’m doing this), send a care package to a troop on behalf of someone else, a charitable donation in their name. We’ll include a certificate that shows what was sent on their behalf, and any thank-you note we receive will be forwarded to them as well.
Don’t Forget Fifi and Fido! Organic and healthy treats for your favorite four-legged friends. No kidding, they have a special "Christmas gift selection" for cats and dogs. Wellness Club Members and HealthBeat subscribers save an additional 5% through this link: Save 5% on your first order at Only Natural Pet Store! |
If you hate crowded shopping malls as much as I do, or feel stumped about what to give for holiday gifts, here are my recommendations for unique gifts to consider and there’s still plenty of time to order for holiday gifting. Best of all, you can browse and order from the warmth and comfort of home — in your jammies if you want to! — instead of fighting the crowds. Here are my top picks for holiday gifting. 
Know someone who is still buying bottled water? (Or worse, drinking unknown tap water?) Or showering in chemical-filled municipal H2O? Aquasana makes a nifty sink water purifier with a sleek design and easy installation. Ditto for a shower-head water purifier. Best of all, these water filters and purifiers have received the highest ratings for quality. 
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The Ten Most Dangerous Foods:
Written by Wellness Club on July 18, 2008 – 7:06 pm -There are some foods that are unhealthy for various reasons, and then there are foods that are SO unhealthy that they shouldn’t even be considered edible. Here are some of the major criteria I used in accessing the most dangerous foods:
1.) Omega Ratios: (ratio of "Omega-6" to "Omega-3" Essential Fatty Acids). Remember that a desirable Omega Ratio is anything under 10. Ten to 15 is OK if consumed on occasion and things higher than 15 should be eaten only rarely if at all.
2.) "Trans" fats: these are the "Frankensteins" of the fat family. Even small amounts can cause serious abnormalities at the cellular level. The proof is so overwhelming that the government has mandated all food labels to start carrying information about the "trans" fat content.
3.) Toxins: while it’s true that much if not most of our food supply contains at least some contaminants, certain foods are worse than others for the toxic compounds they contain.
4.) High simple sugars: as little as one teaspoon of sugar suppresses the immune system for 4 hours or more. And—surprise!—- even fruit sugar (fructose) has this effect.
These foods are on my "hit list" and represent my top ten picks for the most dangerous "pseudo-foods." For every food that should best be avoided, I’ll tell you about a happy, healthy alternative that makes a great substitute.
1.) Potato chips and French Fries: with an Omega ratio of 63, America’s favorite snack foods pack a huge dose of Omega-6 fats, enough to seriously imbalance the body’s essential fatty acid ratio, even when consumed in small amounts. (Does anyone really eat "small amounts" of potato chips?). But that’s not the worst of it. Heating starches produces acrylamides – known neurotoxins and carcinogens capable of damaging DNA. The more you heat starches, the more acrylamides you end up with. Products like normal potato chips contain so much acrylamides that they exceed the World Health Organization’s daily allowances 2000-3000 thousand fold.
This news was downplayed in the USA. On CNN they said "It’s just one study," "More research is needed," (After all, let’s not go to extremes and start thinking we really need to tell people about dangerous chemicals in their food supply—- especially when these foods are Big Business). Potato chips and French fries are the worst foods when it comes to acrylamides, with "foods" like cookies, bread and other starchy foods containing lesser, though still problematic amounts, of this carcinogenic, nervous-system toxic substance.
SUBSTITUTE: Fried pork rinds have an Omega Ratio of 12.9 and no acrylamides, making them a much healthier, still crisp-and-crunchy snack food for dipping and chipping.
2.) Peanuts: with an Omega ratio of 201, this "not really a nut" (it’s a legume) packs a huge dose of Omega-6 fats, again enough to seriously imbalance the body’s essential fatty acid ratio, even when consumed in small amounts. (Does anyone really eat "small amounts" of peanuts either?). But that’s not the worst of it. Peanuts tend to harbor a fungus called aflatoxin. Aflatoxins are potent carcinogenic and immunosuppressive agents. Exposure is difficult to avoid because fungal growth in foods is not easy to prevent. Though heavily contaminated food supplies are not permitted in the market place in developed countries, concern still remains for the possible adverse effects resulting from long-term exposure to low levels of aflatoxins in the food supply. In 1988, the IARC placed aflatoxin B1 on the list of human carcinogens. This is supported by a number of epidemiological studies done in Asia and Africa that have demonstrated a positive association between dietary aflatoxins and Liver Cell Cancer (LCC).
SUBSTITUTE: While true nuts do not tend to harbor aflatoxin like peanuts do, most have an Omega Ratio of 20-100+. The exception is English walnuts, an absolute health food with an Omega Ratio of 1.7.
3.) Crisco: (Crisco = Crystallized Cottonseed Oil). In 1907, candle-make William Proctor and his soap-making brother-in-law James Gamble (Proctor and Gamble), discovered a way to use cottonseed oil to make cheaper candles and soap (the beef tallow processors of the time were driving prices quite high). The process takes cotton seed oil, with an Omega Ratio of 257, and makes it into a solid by converting many of the Omega-6 fats to "trans" fats. This pseudo-food is beyond bad, and not fit for human consumption. Crisco should have remained where it started: as a raw material for making candles and soap.
SUBSTITUTE: Lard or butter. (Butter is a health food).
4.) Vegetable oils: Corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, ALL except those listed below. Their Omega Ratios are terrible —- from 80-120+. Nature didn’t intend for us to concentrate the oils from certain foods like corn and peanuts.
NOTE on Olive Oil: Although Olive Oil has an acceptable Omega Ratio (11.61), it contains a high Omega-9′s, fats which are non-essential and interfere with the body’s utilization of the "good fat," Omega-3. Olive oil has a healthful reputation that far exceeds the reality of its worth. Use flax oil for salad dressings and such (Omega Ratio 2.18), and butter for low-heat frying (Omega Ratio 1.55).
SUBSTITUTE: For high-heat frying, use coconut oil or non-solvent processed canola oil. For low-heat frying (sautéing), use butter, ghee (clarified butter) or walnut oil. Use flax oil only for salad dressings and in baked goods; do not fry with it in order to preserve the Omega-3 fatty acids.
5.) Fruit Juice: Oh Gosh! And now you’re thinking I’m probably against the American flag and motherhood and apple pie…
Freshly made fruit juice contains high levels of vitamin C and enzymes. Processed juice, which has been pasteurized, loses all vitamin C and enzymes. The result? Fruit-sugar (fructose) water. If processed juice contains vitamin C or calcium, it is because these nutrients have been added back in – "enriched." But the levels are low compared to simple supplementation, and not worth the immune-suppressing effects of sugar.
SUBSTITUTE: Want fruit? Eat the "real deal" in its whole form and enjoy the enzymes, vitamins and fiber. Red Alert and Greens First provide the equivalent of 10+ servings of organic produce without the high sugars (and they taste great). If you need more vitamin C (remember, you get a hefty 1,200mg from your daily dose of Maxi Multi), then take an additional vitamin C supplement. If you drink cranberry juice to prevent urinary tract infections, take cranberry capsules instead. No sugar, but all the health benefits.
6.) Margarine: no matter what it’s made from, margarine is largely "trans fat." (Remember, trans fat is "Franken-fat," the really bad stuff). Even good oils are converted into "trans" when they are made into margarine. There isn’t much "trans fat" in nature; the body is not well equipped to deal with this strange substance. Corn oil margarine has an Omega Ratio of 88.5, but even "good" margarine made with soy margarine has an OR of 12.9 (not to mention an unknown amount of "trans," which all margarines have.
SUBSTITUTE: Butter, with an Omega Ratio of 1.5, is an absolute health food. I’m not
sure how it got a "bad rap," but it is totally undeserved. Use butter for a bread spread and for low-heat sautéing. DO NOT use margarine of any kind!
7.) Vegetable Oils: Some oils are bad, some are really bad. Corn oil and peanut oil take the prize for having such an unnatural Omega Ratio (82.9 & infinite, respectively), that the body simply does not have the capacity to use it properly. These high Omega-6 oils create inflammation in the body, predisposing to cancer, heart disease and over 60 other disease processes. Other unhealthy vegetable oils include: soy, sunflower, safflower, cotton seed and sesame. Olive oil is neutral, not healthful. Why use this when you can use flax seed oil with a positive health benefit?
SUBSTITUTE: For salad dressings and no-heat uses: Flax oil (Omega ratio: 0.23) is a health food, so is walnut oil (OR: 5.0) and canola oil (OR: 2.18). Be SURE to use organically processed canola (the label will brag about this). Most commercial canola oils are chemically processed and contain too many chemical residues to make them safe.
8.) White Sugar: This pseudo-food contains NOTHING but simple, "empty" calories. It has no fats, hence no Omega Ratio. (That’s the best news about white sugar). White sugar rapidly elevates blood sugar and taxes the pancreas tremendously. Can you say "hypoglycemia, Syndrome X and diabetes"? The calories in sugar have no food value but are stored rapidly as fat. White sugar requires B complex vitamins for its utilization, creating a B vitamin deficiency. Why does this matter? Low B-6, B12 and folate are major causes of depression, heart disease, ovarian cancer (and probably other cancers), and birth defects.
SUBSTITUTE: "brown sugar" and honey are NOT acceptable substitutes. Their nutritional content is only minutely better than refined white sugar. Try stevia (an herb) or the artificial sweetener saccharine.
9.) White flour: With an Omega ratio of 17.7 and no redeeming nutritional value except empty calories, white flour teams with white sugar as the top "white trash" foods. All of the B complex vitamin deficiencies occurring with white sugar also happen with white flour. Now think a minute: why is it white? Because it has been BLEACHED. No fiber, no nutrients (except carbohydrate calories), a huge tax on the pancreas, PLUS bleach. What a bargain!
SUBSTITUTE: whole grain flour (which usually has a lot of refined flour), or skip flour products altogether. Soy flour products make the most tastefully and healthfully acceptable products.
10.) Non-Dairy Creamer: Made from "pseudo-edible oils" (see # 7 above), creamers have a lot of trans fats. Why do I call the "Franken-fats"? "Trans" is the REALLY BAD kind of fat; Franken-fats are from Trans-silvania, get it?
SUBSTITUTE: want cream in your coffee? Use cream! Or half-and-half! With an Omega Ratio of 1.55 and no trans fats, the "real deal" is much more healthful than these "Franken-fakes."
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