Do you drink enough water? How much is enough, anyway? I’ve been mulling over my own water habits recently, every since I happened to buy a book called Water: For Health, for Healing, for Life: You’re Not Sick, You’re Thirsty!, by a doctor who makes a vigorous case for drinking at least two quarts of water a day, or more if you are a large person.

He goes through a variety of his own experiences and those of others. It’s not the kind of book that is loaded with tons of references, but a few are woven into the text. By the time I had finished reading the book, I was not 100% convinced, but I had decided to experiment myself.It’s only been a couple of weeks, and I can’t say I have noticed anything except more peeing and possibly a little more energy. I will continue to evaluate.

I have found this arrangement works for me: I drink a quart of water in the morning before I have anything else to drink, and I start in on the second quart not long after lunch, not having any other beverages till it’s down the hatch. I finish by around 5 or 6. Read the rest >>>

When my dentist told me that my gums were a little inflamed and that I should use a mouthwash, I thought of those foul-tasting, vile-colored things you get at most stores. As I’m in Mexico at present, my choice of natural mouthwash products from a health food store was probably nonexistent.

I asked my dentist if there was something more natural I could use, perhaps involving salt. Generally, Mexican medical specialists know more about herbs, homeopathy, and natural remedies than their North American counterparts, and this dentist was no exception.

“Certainly,” he said. “Make a strong manzanilla tea — how do you say that in English?”

“Chamomile,” I said.

“Ah yes.  Make about a liter and add a coffee spoon of salt.”

I tried to think what a coffee spoon would be. “Oh, a teaspoon?”

“Yes, thank you.  Use it 3 times a day till your gums are better, then use it whenever you want.”

So I mixed up a quart of this Mexican natural mouthwash, and it is helping. And it tastes okay.

The fear of swine flu is everywhere these days. But there are quite a few things you can do to protect yourself from any flu, and I will list some of these further down. First I want to give my take on the current situation with the flu, then give you those protection tips, and end with a link to  articles on the big picture of this flu situation.

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Wild Goose QiGong is an easily learned form of this ancient Chinese art. I know it’s easily learned, because I’ve been learning it from DVDs. It’s helped my flexibility tremendously and has made other, more subtle improvements in my well-being also. Simple living includes taking care of our bodies, in my view, to do what we can to avoid the suffering and stress that illness can bring. Or to put that more positively, the better our energy, the better our quality of life.

About six months ago, my sister-in-law Alexandra came to visit us for a few weeks. She brought us this DVD:

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Here are two variations on the same theme. In both cases, people who use it swear by it and say it keeps indefinitely. These are recommended when you feel like you might be coming down with something.

(1)    Combine 2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, 1 cup water, and 1 cup apple cider vinegar in a saucepan and heat the mixture over direct heat just until the salt dissolves.

Keep it in a jar in the refrigerator preferably.

This stuff is VERY HOT – as in spicy — so try a little bit at first; you can dilute it with water. At the first sign of a cold or flu, take between a teaspoon to a tablespoon every half hour for a while, then every couple of hours. If giving it to children, smaller doses are appropriate. Read the rest >>>

It is said that leaner people do better than heavy ones in conditions of physical stress. They point out that the people who fast the longest are very lean, and that the body can do very well on a long-term diet of mostly raw foods in surprisingly small amounts. But someone who is overweight is used to consuming a lot of food on a regular basis. The physical effects of a change to a smaller quantity, simpler, mostly raw or natural food will often cause a “healing crisis” to occur.

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