Air Matters 2020
In forests, the Japanese call this ‘Shinrin-yoku’ or “forest bathing”.
Air pollution is turning Mother Nature prematurely gray.
Irv Kupcinet
Air Matters: A Solution for the Wellness Home
It is very difficult to address the concept of Self Care, an Active Wellness Lifestyle or the Wellness Home without addressing Healthy Air. Air quality is one, if not, the major pathway that toxic chemicals and particulates enter our bodies to cause innumerable health concerns.
Air pollution is a global problem of concern to us all. According to Professor Michael Brauer, University of British Columbia, “Air pollution is the 4th highest risk factor for death globally and by far the leading environmental risk factor for disease.”
Poor air quality air, both outdoors and indoors, is a global environmental concern and is a contributing factor to many health challenges. Air pollution isn’t just experienced in highly populated towns and cities but occurs everywhere. In their book, Invisible Killers, Dr. Stewart Lonky and biochemist Rik Deitsch report, “There are over 1460 metric tons of airborne toxins that travel on the jet stream around the world. Because of this there is no place on the planet that can be considered a pristine environment.”
This is a problematic issue as many times we feel ineffective in helping or improving the problem overall. One way that we can be pro-active is to realize that much of the air we breathe, we breathe indoors. Currently, indoor air pollution ranks tenth among preventable risk factors contributing to the global burden of disease. The air within our homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air even the largest and most industrialized cities according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Indoor air pollution can be 2 to 5 times higher than what we are exposed to outdoors. Virtually every household and office building is a potential source of excessive amounts of one or another toxic pollutant - nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, formaldehyde, radon (a radioactive product of radium), sulfur dioxide, asbestos, not to mention the chemicals in hairsprays, deodorants, oven cleaners, paints, pesticides, laundry aids, floor and furniture polishes, glue and, ironically, air fresheners.
Indoor air pollution has been linked to a wide variety of adverse health effects, including headaches, respiratory problems, frequent colds and sore throats, chronic cough, skin rashes, eye irritation, lethargy, dizziness and memory lapses. Long-term effects may include an increased risk of cancer. Though children, the elderly and those with chronic ailments like asthma, allergies and heart and lung diseases seem especially vulnerable, symptoms may also occur in otherwise normal, healthy persons.
Dusts, molds, pollens and other particles in our air can directly impact us through hay fever or other allergies. Improving the quality of our air can reduce the air pollution we experience, as well as helping to reduce airborne transmissions in offices, schools, and other such environments.
Importance of Indoor Air Quality
“Indoor air quality” refers to the quality of the air in a home, school, office, or other building environment. The potential impact of indoor air quality on human health is noteworthy for several reasons:
Americans, on average, spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors, where the concentrations of some pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than typical outdoor concentrations. People who are often most susceptible to the adverse effects of pollution (e.g., the very young, older adults, the infirm and people with cardiovascular or respiratory disease) tend to spend even more time indoors.
Indoor concentrations of some pollutants have increased in recent decades due to such factors as energy-efficient building construction (when it lacks sufficient mechanical ventilation to ensure adequate air exchange) and increased use of synthetic building materials, furnishings, personal care products, pesticides, and household cleaners.
“Cleaning up the air we breathe prevents non-communicable diseases as well as reduces disease risks among women and vulnerable groups, including children and the elderly...”, says Dr. Flavia Bustreo, WHO Assistant Director-General Family, Women and Children’s Health.
Air as nature intended.
Kenko Air Purifier
Air in natural settings such as forests, waterfalls, and the ocean have a soothing, relaxing sensation. In forests, the Japanese call this ‘Shinrin-yoku’ or “forest bathing”. This feeling in part is caused by the abundant negative ions found natural environments. Negative ions are particles in the air that carry a net negative electrical charge. Research suggests that negative ions contribute to the sense of well-being that we get from breathing fresh, clean air.
The KenkoAir® Purifier is designed to combat allergy and harmful causing particles and enhance the negative ion content of the air we breathe. The KenkoAir® Purifier utilizes a H3 multi-stage Hepa filtration process that eliminates 99.9% of air particles as small as 0.3 microns. The negative ion generator does not produce ozone as seen with many other air filtration systems on the market.
We breathe without even thinking, (approximately 23,000 times a day) as such, air wellness is a simple solution for a huge problem that fits into and compliments the Nikken Wellness Home, allowing us to enjoy a more natural, pollutant-free environment.
Breathing cleaner air is one way we all can be Healthy by Choice. This topic will be included in our next Healthy by Choice broadcast. The class will cover the problem of indoor air pollution, the solution and what and why some choices are healthier than others.
Please join us and invite guests for Air Matter Matters on Tuesday, February 11th at 9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific. Together we can all help anyone Be Healthy by Choice. To Join the broadcast click this link and follow the prompts www.theroyalalliance.com/live see you on Tuesday.
Be health by choice
Sugar, a Highly Functioning Sociopath
One of the major problems contributing to weight issues is excess sugar consumption. To put this into context, the average daily consumption of sugar by Americans in 1822 was 9 grams a day. It is currently 153 grams a day… what should we be doing?
“Do your research. I am a highly functioning sociopath.”
Public enemy No. 1 is sugar!
One of the major problems contributing to weight issues is excess sugar consumption. To put this into context, the average daily consumption of sugar by Americans in 1822 was 9 grams a day. It is currently 153 grams a day. The average person in the U.S. consumes 130 pounds of sugar per year. This is nearly a 17-fold increase in less than 200 years. We change very slowly biologically, yet we have drastically altered what we are eating and the amount of sugar we are consuming.
Added sugar is the single worst ingredient in the modern diet. It provides calories with no added nutrients and can damage your metabolism in the long run. Eating too much sugar is linked to weight gain and various diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease and increased risk of cancer to name a few.
To monitor sugar consumption, it is helpful to understand that 4 grams of sugar is equivalent to one teaspoon. It is recommended that a healthy daily consumption of sugar should not exceed 24 grams or six teaspoons for women and 36 grams or nine teaspoons for men.
Although the U.S. leads the world in sugar consumption, this is a global problem. The top sugar loving nations include the following:
None of these rates of consumption for individuals is close to recommended daily allowance.
Sugar is highly addictive. Sugar activates the reward center in our brain the same way as many drugs, provoking similar cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
There are two simple Self Care principles that we can do to break the sugar addiction.
Read food labels
The first step we need to take is to read food labels to keep your daily consumption at a healthy level.
This becomes apparent given the fact that there are over 600,000 food items in the U.S. and 80% of them contain added sugars. Sometimes in foods that we wouldn’t suspect as having added sugars. So read labels and journal your daily added sugar consumption. Heather has created a simple Weekly Self Care Journal to help track this and other self care activities.
Let protein help
Eating protein is an easy way to curb sugar cravings. High-protein foods digest slowly, keeping you feeling full longer. Protein doesn't make your blood sugar spike the way refined carbs and sugars do. Protein shakes are ideal for this.
Nikken’s Kenzen Vital Balance protein shake contains organic moringa and naturally sweet monk fruit in addition to organic pea protein and organic vegetables. It is designed to help burn fat and boost metabolism as well as promote healthy brain function and the elimination of toxins in the body. With pre- and probiotics to assist in digestive and immune system activity, Kenzen Vital Balance is food for action and food for thought, perfect for all ages and a great way to not only nourish your body but also break the sugar addiction and Be Healthy by Choice.
Kenzen Vital Balance Label - Chocolate
$93 US
The ABC's of Self Care Q
Although health is one of the important aspects of overall quality of life, there are other domains…
“Our job is improving the quality of life, not just delaying death.”
The ABC’s of Self Care Q
For the letter Q let’s talk about Quality of life.
I think it’s safe to say that quality of life is important to everyone. Although the term “quality of life” has meaning for nearly everyone and every academic discipline, individuals and groups can define it differently. What makes it challenging to measure or quantify, is that quality of life is a multidimensional concept that usually includes physical, mental, and social domains. These are usually qualitative or subjective evaluations of both positive and negative aspects of life. Although health is one of the important aspects of overall quality of life, there are other domains such as jobs, housing, schools, the neighborhood and finances. Aspects of culture, values, and spirituality are also key components of overall quality of life that add to the complexity of its measurement and assessment. In the context of self care we all can and should be the guardians of our own quality of life and what that means to us.
The pressures of daily living, busy schedules, demands of work, inadequate family or personal time, not enough rest, health and financial challenges can lead to a life thrown out of balance and can disturb our quality of life.
Balance is the key. Just as our bodies strive for physiological homeostasis, we must balance all the areas of our lives. Over 43 years ago, Nikken’s founder, Isamu Masuda, recognized this imbalance. He felt that total happiness and wellness depended on living a life in balance in five key areas, what he named the 5 Pillars of Health® — Healthy Body, Mind, Family, Society and Finances. Leading a balanced life strengthens each of these pillars, and results in a more satisfying, healthy and rewarding lifestyle.
Nikken offers the means to attain this balance, through the Nikken Wellness Home and the Nikken business opportunity. We believe the way to fulfill our mission of a life in balance is through duplication of Wellness Homes. The awesome thing about a Wellness Home is that any home can be a Wellness Home, by utilizing Nikken products and technologies to make your home the healthiest environment possible for you and your family. Our motto is “Every home a Wellness Home”.
Healthy Body
We often say in the Self Care Awakening, we cannot put a price on our health. It is our most precious asset. The concept behind the Nikken Wellness Home is to provide our bodies with the tools it needs to be healthy while making healthy choices easy. Clean air; pure energized alkaline water; organic whole food nutrition; deep, regenerative sleep, and organic personal use and skin care products are all part of the Nikken Wellness Home. Nikken’s leading-edge products and technologies have been the cornerstone for providing thousands of people with great physical health. Think of a seedling being grown in a green house where just the right amount of sunlight, moisture, nutrients and protection from the elements allows it to flourish into a lush, green plant. Creating a Wellness Home provides us with an optimal environment that nourishes, protects and energizes us in much the same way. With any category of Nikken products, you begin the process of assisting people with building their Wellness Homes. The Wellness Home concept is universal: everyone needs to sleep well, drink beneficial water and consume healthy nutrition to live a Life in Balance.
Healthy Mind
Our minds are remarkable! What we think determines our success. Many people suffer ‘lack’ versus ‘prosperity’ due to their thinking. When we are in balance, our mind is open to enjoy all the blessings of abundance. Freedom from health and financial stress is a goal that we all can achieve for a greater quality of life.
Healthy Family
In addition to the benefits that a Wellness Home can have for the physical health of a family and its members is the time freedom that a Nikken business allows for a healthy family. One of the crucial components to the success of a healthy family is creating work/life balance. In today’s fast paced environment, it very difficult to maintain the work/life balance that we all desire. Too often people work well past their office hours or skip lunch in order to meet tight deadlines. People are becoming over stressed, over worked, and over tired, which can lead not only to health problems, but also directly affect your home life.
This was always a challenge for me in my previous career and unfortunately work was usually the priority. My profession involved a tremendous amount of travel. I had developed a thriving business that I loved, but it took an awakening for me to see how it was affecting me and my family. I came to an epiphany one day while on a telephone call my wife was giving me the play by play of my son’s little league game over the phone. I didn’t want to miss ball games, by gosh I wanted to be the coach. Although I loved my business it appeared that it did not love me back. Not until I fully understood the 5 Pillars of Health and the importance of maintaining a balance in all five areas did I put a plan into action that utilized the Nikken business opportunity to create more time freedom for my family. Oh, and by the way, I coached baseball for the next 10 years. You can’t put a price on that.
Healthy Society
Have you ever done something for someone, great or small, and felt even better than the person on the receiving end? Giving back to society is vital for living a meaningful and fulfilling life. When we see ourselves as “more”, we can be “more” to others in society. Nikken’s Humans Being More workshops offer fabulous opportunities to improve yourself, thereby allowing you to give more of yourself to others in need.
Healthy Finances
Finances are a major vital component of the Wellness Home. When the finances are affected, then everything is affected. Many people work around the clock often at the expense their family time and their health. They spend most of their lives working, usually too hard and for too many hours, just to make more money. In today’s world, it is very rare to achieve financial security by working for someone else.
Compare that to Nikken, where you have complete flexibility and unlimited opportunity. Earn extra money part-time or develop a new career or an encore career. Build your business and create a steady source of income. We provide the tools, support, the leadership from experienced professionals.
When you create a Wellness Home and teach others to do the same, you generate a healthy lifestyle that provides you with a source of revenue. Spread the word. Educate your Consultants on how to grow their Nikken businesses by building their Wellness Homes as well as by creating repetitive orders for clients who are similarly learning to build their own Wellness Homes. It’s a continual cycle of health and prosperity. As an Independent Nikken Consultant, you can have the freedom to live as you wish. To earn as much as you deserve and to make a difference in the world, helping others.
Humans Being More
The Nikken mission is both simple and inspirational—to help people discover an Active Wellness Lifestyle. We provide the means with The 5 Pillars of Health®. Since 1975, Nikken has provided the innovative products and income opportunity to live a life in balance and to share the message of every home a Wellness Home. Our action plan and easy-to-understand compensation plan create infinite possibilities of building a better future for everyone. It all begins with you and your commitment to the 5 Pillars of Health®.
Have a very happy and healthy 4th of July. We will see you all the following week for our next installment for the ABC’s of Self Care.