Whether you have or haven’t heard of Ghee, it’s worth your health to Ghee friends. Ghee is concentrated, or clarified butter and is prepared by taking organic butter churned from cream (produced by pasture-fed cows), and simmered to remove liquid residue. Spices can be added for flavor. The texture, color, and taste of ghee depend on the quality of the butter, source of the milk used in the process, and the duration of the boiling. It is considered a super-food in Ayurveda Medicine. Ghee is a saturated fat and not recommended to consume in large quantities, however for those times when you want that lovely buttery flavor, you can increase your health benefits by choosing organic Ghee over traditional butter. HEALTHY GUT Ghee is very concentrated in a fatty-acid called butyric acid. Butyric acid is the primary fuel source for the good microbes living in our guts. In fact the healthy bacteria in our GI tracks like it so much they produce their own form of butyric acid. A significant source of butyric acid in the gut helps promote the growth of healthy gut bacteria which has been linked to protection from various diseases, and it is also a favorite fuel for the cells that line our intestinal tract which helps us maintain a healthy lining in our colons. NUTRIENT DENSE Ghee is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamins A, D, E and K, numerous minerals, and nine phenolic antioxidants (powerful anti-inflammatory and immune bolstering nutrients). WEIGHT LOSS Ghee is one of the highest natural sources of CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid). CLA increases how well and how much we burn energy from the food we eat. When combined with exercise, a regular intake of CLA has been shown to reduce body fat and (perhaps) increase metabolism. IMMUNE SUPPORT AND DISEASE PREVENTION Butyric acid has been shown to boost killer T cell activity (our immune system’s major fighting cells). Animal studies show that as little as 0.5 percent CLA in your diet can reduce cancerous tumors by over 50 percent, in breast, colorectal, lung, skin, and stomach cancers. CLA has also been documented to aid in the reduction of asthma, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, osteoporosis, diabetes/pre-diabetes, and allergies.Ghee is concentrated,...
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Exercise is to the Body, What Reading is to the Mind
If all you ever read was the same book over and over again you wouldn’t be learning much new and you probably get bored and stop reading all together. But that is exactly the mistake most people do with their exercise routines…they keep doing the same things over and over again. Just as reading a broad range of information broadens your perspective on life, introducing new and different types of exercise will yield a more fit, stronger, and more flexible body. Next time you take a walk or hit the stair master at the gym consider trying this…. vary the intensity of your workout in intervals of 1:1 to 1:4. In other words, alternate doing the exercise at your maximum level for a set time, i.e. running as fast as you possibly can for one minute, followed by 4 minutes of doing the exercise at your regular pace. As your fitness level advances you can shorten the interval training sessions to 1:1, where you are doing high intensity exercise for longer and the lower intensity exercise for shorter times. This type of exercise has been shown to maximize your fitness benefits, especially if you don’t have time to exercise for longer sessions in a day. ...
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The Art of Listening and Loving
There are times when we hear somebody telling us something again and again, a hundred times, but because we think we know this already, we’ve heard it already, we finish the sentence for the person, or we readily draw a conclusion and the brain immediately closes down and doesn’t process any more information, thus shutting out that person who is there with us. Our body is physically there, but our mind is already focused on another object, or it’s planning, or daydreaming. The other person feels this and knows that he or she is speaking to a wall. Sometimes the person may ask, “Are you there? Are you listening to me?” We reply, “Yeah yeah yeah, I hear you,” but we’ve already shut that person out. In the spaciousness and quiet of our mind, we may belatedly truly hear a familiar sentence for the very first time. We finally understand the message and ask, “Is this what you mean?” After all this time, five years or twenty years, we suddenly understand what our mother, father, or partner has been trying to tell us, and they may exclaim in exasperation, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all this time!” We suddenly see how this message is connected to everything else. We discover this aspect of the person for the first time, and this is a moment of deep communion in our relationship, with ourselves, and with each other. Sister Dang Nghiem Mindfullness is Medicine — A story of healing body and...
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How Much Sugar Are You Drinking, Can You Guess?
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Finding Your Inner Child
We need to practice loving speech and deep listening with ourselves first of all. The inner child in us, the deepest part of us, has been trying to tell us for so many years certain things about ourselves, but we just don’t hear it. It’s like being in a crowded and noisy market. Neither can we hear a voice calling us nor can we hear the sound of a pin dropping. But when the market closes down and the cacophony ceases, if there’s a child crying, we will hear it. In the same way, we need to cultivate this quietude in ourselves throughout the day, so that when the cries from deep down inside us rise up, we will hear them. We will recognize ourselves for the first time. We will understand why we are the way we are, why we behave certain ways. Only when we can to do this for ourselves will we be able to do it for other people. Only then can we discover each other anew every day and in every moment. Sister Dang Nghiem, Mindfullness is Medicine — A story of healing body and...
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Good Things Come to Those Who Workout
SWEAT…It Does a Body...
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Courage Doesn’t Always Roar
It takes courage to be still and thoughtfully choose your actions rather than re-acting spontaneously. Mindfulness is the key that opens your door to a fully engaged life. Mindfulness allows you to act on what you know you want, rather that acting out in the moment because of how you feel. “If you eat, don’t eat your projects. Don’t eat your sadness.Don’t eat the argument you just had. Don’t eat your loneliness or need. Just eat. If you walk. Just walk. If you drive, just drive. You have to choose again and again, to be in the present moment. The moment you realize you’re not mindful is when you actually become mindful. You must come back to it again, and again. It’s mental training.” Sister Dang Nghiem, Deer Park...
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Want to Know Why Your Rear-View Window is Smaller than Your Windshield?
It is more important to focus on where you are going than on where you have been! Don’t get stuck looking at what you have or haven’t done. Stay focused on your goals and where you want to go. Every minute is a new beginning....
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What Happens When a Physician Takes the Time to Be Mindful?
Real Medicine happens when…a doctor learns to practice mindfulness. If before going into a patient’s room, a physician does a walking meditation, gathers themselves, focuses their mind to be truly present, and then walks in quietly and peacefully. That’s already medicine. The physician is calm. Not fragmented, stressed, rushed or distant. The patient feels that attention, that tenderness, that care, that true presence. The patient is already soothed. That’s real...
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If Each of Your Thoughts is a Seed…What Does Your Garden Look Like?
“In a garden, if you only weed, you’ll be exhausted and lose hope. If you plant enough flowers, eventually there will be less room for all the weeds and you will find your joy.” To be fully well, you must learn to cultivate joy and peace in each breath. Even though you may be grieving and feel pain, you have to learn to cultivate joy and peace at the same time. It’s like a garden: You have to take care of the weeds, but you also have to plant flowers. Sister Dang Nghiem, Deer Park Monastery...
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