A Change of Pace; Round 2

My current plan is to drop almost all of my vitamin supplement intake for multiple reasons:

1. For at least a week, prior to surgery, I am not supposed to be using ANY supplements. After 6 surgeries, I'm still not sure why I can't use vitamin supplements.
2. The cost of buying supplements.
3. The waste (given my minimal disabilty income) of purchasing single vitamins (A, C, D, E, etc.) and a multivitamin is a little much.

Well, my first reason is probably my least impactful. back in March, when Surgery 7 was originally scheduled, I stopped my vitamin intake. When the surgery was canceled, I went back on my use of supplements. The main reason that I'm thinking of this is that I will eventually have to stop using the supplements prior to the surgery - whenever it finally happens.

The second reason is a little more impactful. With the current situation, income is very limited. The last thing that I need to spend it on is my supplement intake. 

The third reason is just by my own choice. I found a good multivitamin through Vitacost. It uses 2 capsules per day, according to nutritional info. My goal was, and still remains, to use one per day just to insure the intake of the vitamins. It also increases the number of days that one bottle wil last.

So, after I run out of my current stock on hand, my plan is to stick to the multivitamin and the vitamin D until the week before my surgery final occurs. After that, I will re-evaluate how things are going...

Best I Can

With my recent return to My Journey, I am also returning to my use of song names for the titles of my posts. While there are several songs with the title of "Best I Can," the one that I am referring to is from my favorite band, RUSH. I chose this song because - well - I'm trying to do that very thing, the best that I can.

I've been really loyal to my eating plan. Even yesterday, I went to a wedding - I was the Best Man - and could have gone way off of the path. I may have been a bit off, but I stuck to beef, asparagus, carrots, and a baked potato for my dinner and only a couple of sips of champagne for the toast. The potato might have been a little much for my carbs, but at least it wasn't sugar.

As for the best that I can do (and what I intended this post to be about)... I have been adding turmeric as one of my main supplements. Turmeric has a lot of benefits!  I'm also not limiting my consumption of turmeric as a supplement but adding it to a lot of the recipes that I'm cooking. In fact, my use of it as a seasoning as far outweighed my use of it as a supplement. So... Why?

Turmeric has been found to be beneficial to the brain. MS, epilepsy, and Alzheimer's disease symptoms have all been reported as being positively effected by turmeric. What is interesting, though, is that turmeric isn't terribly bioavailable. The body's digestive system doesn't really like it. It does have a 'trigger' that is easily found, however. The trigger is piperine. "Wait! I thought you said that is was 'easily found.' What is piperine???" Well, piperine is found in black pepper. See? That's pretty easy!

I don't always have breakfast in the morning, but 90% of those meals is an omelet. I use 3 free-range, fertilized eggs, a couple of ounces of raw cheddar cheese, and a shot of raw whole milk for the standard ingredients. For seasoning, I add sea salt, black pepper, garlic, parsley, and turmeric. Another regular meal for me is tuna. For this, I mix a can of tuna with mayo, chopped onion, chopped celery, sea salt, pepper, and turmeric.

A-Z Challenge - 'B'

While B-12 is technically prefaced by the word 'vitamin,' I am using it for my letter B in the A-Z challenge. Deficiency in B-12 can lead to a lot of symptoms that are similar to those caused by multiple sclerosis. As I have stated many times, I do not believe that my diagnosis of multiple sclerosis is accurate. I am firmly convinced that my symptoms are a result of something else. As such, I am taking steps on my journey to wellness to correct any potential causes. One of those steps is supplementation with vitamin B-12. Because the B vitamins work better when consumed together, I am currently only using a B complex supplement rather than an isolated B-12 supplement.

As with any supplement, please consult your doctor before using B-12 or a B complex.

A-Z Challenge - 'A'

For me on my journey to wellness, the letter A stands for Alpha Lipoic Acid. ALA is an antioxidant (which also begins with A!) that helps prevent free radical damage in the body. For my purposes, ALA has also shown to provide benefits for people suffering from peripheral neuropathy. Peripheral neuropathy is essentially a tingling or pain in the nerve (neuro-) endings in the extremities (peripheral). While I may not have been officially diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, I certainly do suffer from pain and tingling in my feet on a fairly regular basis (read: all the time!). ALA has been proven effective in doses as low as 600 mg. Due to the fact that ALA is naturally occurring in many of the foods that I am already eating, I limit my supplementation to 200 mg per day.

Please, do some research into ALA and consult your doctor before including Alpha Lipoic Acid in your supplementation.

The 'Boxer'

So, it might be a stretch, but I don't know any songs that are about Mixed Martial Arts.  As a result, I chose to relate this post to Simon and Garfunkel's 'The Boxer.'  I suppose that I could have chosen Carl Douglas' 'Kung Fu Fighting' but it doesn't quite fit, either.
Anyway, for a change of pace, I wanted to post a recent article about an athlete that uses VidaCell. While I already know from first-hand experience that VidaCell is beneficial in fighting disease, here is some evidence that it is also a great for athletes. In other words, it is not just for the sick and aging but for healthy people, too!

July 1, 2010

Taking ‘em to the mat with VIDACELL

If you were to meet Clint Musser on the street, you would never imagine that he’s one of the country’s best Ultimate Fighters. Barefoot on a wrestling mat, he stands a stocky five-foot-seven and weighs in at just 155 pounds. Don’t be fooled by his size, however. Behind his affable smile is one of the most decorated and accomplished wrestlers in the history of Ohio wrestling with a physique that could have been “ripped” from the cover of “Ultimate MMA” magazine. Three times Ohio State Champion Wrestler and two times NCAA All-American at Penn State is just the beginning of his long list of winning accomplishments.
Clint’s move earlier this year into the MMA* (Mixed Martial Arts or Ultimate Fighting) gave him the career boost that he had been planning for some time. Ultimate fighting is one of the hottest sports in the world today and promises to give Clint the exposure needed to advance his career to a new level.
At age thirty-four, he was also searching for a natural energy boost and performance enhancement that would give him both the fastest muscle recovery time and an advantage over the younger more agile fighters. With the help of a GreatLife independent distributor, he found both in VIDACELL. “It’s worked so well for me that I just had to have GreatLife as one of my sponsors,” said Musser. “I must have wasted thousands of dollars on protein powders and creatine that only made me bloated and more fatigued. With VIDACELL, I’m able to maximize my training time and endurance level which gives me that extra advantage in the ring.”
Extremely strong for his weight, the hard punching Musser has two big wins this year and appears to be ready to move on to the next stage of his game plan. The next six months will be very important for Clint as he sets out to win the National Lightweight Title Belt. Congratulations Clint, for your tremendous success in the ring and with VIDACELL!


* With its roots in the ancient Olympic Games dating back to 776 BC, Mixed Martial Arts has grown from a violent curiosity into an exciting combative sport that now transcends many world cultures. Its popularity throughout the world gives promise for MMA becoming part of the modern Olympic Games creating a new goal for Clint’s fighting career.


PHOTOS:  Top - Clint Musser is declared the winner against Mike “Irish Hatred” McDonald after putting him into a Guillotine Choke hold at NAAFS Midwest Combat Challenge 11.


Bottom - Musser displays his solid striking skills, however, he’s most known for his Guillotine Choke prowess. Clint tends to win his bouts by stoppage via submission, something that he’s quite proud of.

You may or may not know that I am a distributor of VIDACELL.  I have started another blog for the purpose of talking about the business opportunity behind the product.  While it would fit in to my original plan with this blog - my journey to physical, spiritual, and financial wellness - I don't want to muddy this blog with recruiting messages and such.  So, if you are interested in reading more about GreatLife International and the VidaCell business opportunity, please visit my other blog.  I will continue to post my personal health progress along with articles similar to the one above on this blog.