Rakesh Sethi, BS, CAHP
Wellness Speaker/ Author/
Ayurvedic Practitioner
What is Ayurvedic Consultation?
Archive for the ‘Healthy Lifestyle’ Category
How do you Lower Cholesterol Naturally?
With new FDA Statin warnings, I would strongly urge to change to natural ways to manage cholesterol. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved important safety label changes for the class of cholesterol-lowering drugs known as Statins (Full FDA Release). Though the cholesterol is well known term but there is still much mystery surrounding it because you hear there is good cholesterol and there is bad. Before getting into how do you lower cholesterol naturally and without using drugs, let us find out what is cholesterol exactly? Cholesterol consists of mostly fat and some protein. It is produced in the liver and other cells in the body and cholesterol is also present in certain foods like meat, eggs, and dairy products.
The question is why does a cholesterol level increase and what are the risks of high cholesterol? 
There are two main cholesterol types, LDL and HDL. LDL is known as the bad cholesterol that causes plaque buildup in the arteries and HDL is known as good cholesterol that helps keep the blood free of bad cholesterol.
Typically, the objective is to lower the LDL and raise the HDL levels of cholesterol. If the LDL level becomes high or the HDL level becomes low, your risk of heart disease increases. One has to maintain this fine balance and try to lower cholesterol without drugs. So now we know what we need to do, let us look at how do you lower cholesterol naturally?
First and foremost to lower cholesterol naturally, remove the main cause- the foods in the diet that increase the cholesterol. Make changes in your diet to eat a low-cholesterol diet. The American Heart Association recommends that you eat less than three hundred milligrams of cholesterol daily. 
If you already have heart disease, you should limit your daily intake to less than two hundred milligrams a day. You can significantly lower the amount of cholesterol intake by avoiding foods high in saturated fat like meat, dairy, and other animal products. If you smoke, quit smoking. Smoking lowers your good cholesterol levels which can easily be reversed if you quit smoking.
Second, how do you lower cholesterol naturally is by using herbs to slowly “cleanse” the blood of unwanted cholesterol. There are herbal formulas available for lowering cholesterol naturally. One of the most well known herbs for this purpose is Guggulu. Guggulu has a proven track record of lowering LDL by 20% and increasing HDL by 36%. In this matter, one must consult with the Ayurvedic practitioner and their physician before starting a herbal regimen. If you are not familiar with basics of Ayurveda, please check out the FREE mini-course.
Third, how do you lower cholesterol naturally is simply by adding exercising. Exercise increases the good HDL cholesterol in some people. Even a moderate-intensity exercise done routinely can help you to control your weight, diabetes, and high blood pressure which are all risk factors for heart disease. As always Ayurveda natural health tips offer preventive care and promote health and wellness naturally.
So what is the right cholesterol level? There is a cholesterol level guideline that doctors follow but most recent studies show some people with higher level than the guideline are equally healthy and show no heart disease. In reality, the body needs to produce and maintain certain amount of cholesterol for body to perform its functions properly. Cholesterol plays a critical role in the body in production of certain hormones, vitamin D, and the bile acids that help to digest fat. However, when the level increases or decreases beyond what the body requires problems like heart disease can develop.
Our goal is to naturally maintain the right levels of cholesterol without drugs. For more expansive researched information from several sources- now all in one place, please sign-up for our newsletter and receive free Lower Your Cholesterol Naturally e-book.
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Health Benefits of Ginger and How Much to Take Everyday
Most of us know of ginger but have you ever wondered about the health benefits of ginger? And I certainly hope many of you are already consuming daily in your diet. If you are not then after reading this article, you will be inspired to take it DAILY. For those who are already using it will find numerous health benefits of ginger in this article. Wellness coaches in USA are quickly learning about ginger and suggesting it to their clients. And why not, any person desiring right eating would take this to heart and develop recipes with it or order food with ginger. Ginger has been part of food & medicine in eastern cultures for thousands of years.
Almost anyone can take ginger and more than likely will have some benefit in some part of their body systems. Take a look at the following several health benefits of ginger:
- Increases circulation, supports heart health, generally benefits the cardiovascular system, and improves serum triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, & VLDL –cholesterol levels. It lowers blood fats, reduces LDL oxidation, (lower cholesterol without drugs) and prevents arterial plaque. Note the improvements were enhanced when the ginger was combined with garlic.
- Promotes digestion, cures upset stomach, reduces or eliminate motion sickness and nausea. Ginger facilitates in movement of food through the GI tract and helps in empting the stomach in less time. This is a great benefit for people feeling abdominal discomfort, flatulence, burping, and bloating.
- Reduces pain in arthritis, especially osteoarthritis, when used topically along with massaging cold & non lubricated joints with sesame oil
- Reduces phlegm in the lungs and comforts during colds
- Eliminates morning sickness in pregnant women just by taking 1000-1500mg of dry ginger
- Reduces or eliminates pain in joints and carpel tunnel simply by wrapping the area with strips of cooked fresh ginger and leaving it overnight
- Burns toxins in the GI tract and increases secretion of digestive juices. It is your daily detoxifier and digestive aid
As you can tell from the above listed health benefits of ginger, it is a very economical home remedy for common ailments plus keeps the body systems toxin free and prevents diseases from happening in the first place- excellent defense from a very tasty herb.
How much & how to take it?
Take up to 3000 mg of per day in ginger capsules. Fresh grated ginger is more effective but powder will work as well in your recipes. Or you can grate 1 teaspoon ginger and make 3 cups of tea and enjoy thru the day.
If you liked this article then biggest compliment you can give is by sharing it with others and spreading wellness. Always keep in mind Ayurveda health tips along with right eating offer preventive care and promote health and wellness naturally. Be Well!
PS: To know more if you are Eating Right Foods as per your unique Mind-Body constitution, please subscribe to the FREE “simple secrets to good health with right eating” mini course.
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How to Detoxify Body Naturally in 7 Days?
Vacation and holidays are fun! But we all know when we have over eaten, over drunk, over enjoyed, over done and all at the expense of our body. Our body goes out of balance (health) and if we continue such a life style, we feel lethargic, dull, lack of energy, low appetite, gas, bloating, constipation, and we gain weight. Just like we do oil change & tune up for our car, now is good time to do “oil change”, that is to detoxify body naturally.
Your body, overtime, has accumulated toxins and body systems functions are compromised and if you do not detoxify whole body now, you may land yourself some illness. If you have come to this point, taking a short cut with vitamins or energy drinks is not the answer. In fact your “digestive fire” is already compromised & you may be harming your body by putting unnecessary doses of vitamins plus throwing your hard earned money down the drain. So at this time go with the total body cleanse and also as a general maintenance to do a whole body cleanse is good for you.
Let me show you exactly how you can detoxify body naturally in 6 to 7 days gently following simple steps:
1. Start first day with ONLY 32 oz. – 48 oz. of warm to hot water in the morning. Have warm light vegetable soup for lunch. Or if you can manage with fruits only choose cooked apple or pear or uncooked grapefruit or pomegranate. In the afternoon have only fresh Ginger tea. Evening meal if you can skip great, if not, have only Moong lentil soup. Rest & avoid exercising on this day.
2. For the next 5-6 days:
- Have warm light easy to digest foods like chicken broth soups, rice & Moong lentil soups, or other light meals
- Drink hot fresh cut ginger tea 3 cups and only hot water through out the day
- Take 1000mg Turmeric (2x500mg capsules) after each meal w/ warm water
- Take 2000mg Triphala (2x1000mg tablets) Not after dinner but 1 hour before bedtime w/ warm water
3. AVOID the following during these days:
Icy cold drinks, Fried foods, Red Meats, Cheese, Heavy creamy & sugary foods, Raw vegetables, Cold foods
Follow the above steps and you will detoxify body naturally of accumulated toxins in a matter of days. No shock & aw or synthetic chemicals- all natural gentle process. If you do not see enough improvement in 7 days, extend it for 3 more days. A good measure is – Your energy level & robust appetite will return.
For more gradual and gentle detoxification, use herbal formula Eliminate Toxins.
Caution: Do NOT detoxify body, if pregnant. Also if you have any medical condition, check with your physician before starting any procedure.
Note: If you like, you can practice “mini” version of the detox by following the above steps EXCEPT rather than five to six days in step two, do this step for only for two days. Use this mini version to detoxify body naturally more frequently (every or every other month) for it to be effective. Consult with your Ayurveda practitioner how often to detoxify the body.
If you liked this article then biggest compliment you can give is by sharing this wellness with others. As always keep in mind natural health tips along with right eating offer preventive care and promote health and wellness naturally. Be Well!
Rakesh Sethi
PS: To know more if you are Eating Right Foods as per your unique Mind-Body constitution and create less toxins in the body, please subscribe to the FREE “simple secrets to good health with right eating” mini course.
What Do You Think? Feel Free to Speak Your Mind
Share your comments, thoughts and suggestions below. I appreciate your time & will take the time to read every single one!
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Can Health Care Reform and Preventive Care Fix our System?
Our health care system is broken, probably an understatement. The cost we pay under this broken system is with both our health and our wallet. Are we getting our money’s worth? Perhaps yes, in disease management but not in preventive care and health management. With health care reform and preventive care included in our health plans, we can move towards managing health.
However, we live with a belief that health care system is responsible for managing our health. I believe this fundamental belief has to change.
In order for health care reform and preventive care to work, our health attitudes must shift to take on personal responsibility of managing our own health just as we manage our financial health. How we approach our health has to change?
Take the following approach:
- Take personal responsibility- you are your first health coach.
- Practice preventive care with right diet & life style suitable for your unique mind-body.
- If you are healthy you don’t need medicine. However to stay healthy, if you choose NOT to change your unhealthy diet and life style then you have NO use for medicine.
- Don’t make the problem worse by waiting and try to find a magic pill. There is none. Preventive care is the magic pill.
Unless we change our Health Attitudes, any health care reform changes we make to the health care system in United States will not work. Let me explain:
Let us suppose we have the following health care options under the health care insurance plans:
- Alternative medicine- natural preventive health care, for example Ayurveda, Acupuncture, Yoga, Meditation etc.
- Integrative approach- alternative combined with current medical model.
- Conventional medicine- current medical model
Without changing our health attitudes, we will continue to live as we live today and after becoming sick expect the medical system to “fix” us. This means we will continue to use the last option#3. Perhaps it is too late to use preventive care options 1 or 2. Note the costs are significantly less when we use options 1 & 2.
So it seems, even if we offer preventive care options under health insurance, people will not use it till we educate them to shift their health attitudes. So we need to do both: offer all 3 options under the health insurance plans and also change our health attitudes.
Let us also clarify on what is true preventive care?
Most of us think that having regular physicals, mammograms, & other check-ups is a preventive care. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY WRONG. These are just screening tools to see, if your preventive care practice is working or not. Preventive care is a step before this step.
Preventive care is selecting right foods, life style, exercising according to your unique mind-body constitution. We are all unique and one size does not fit all. So we must discover what foods & type of life style is more suitable for us. If we think of food as medicine, we perhaps will not need any other medicine.
Our current system catches people as they are just about to fall off a cliff and cost is just too high to “save” people at this juncture.
Place preventive care (included under health insurance) at the front end and we will have fewer people falling off the cliff. Savings will be tremendous to our medical system. It is our, for profit, health care system that will realize tremendous economic benefits. But I do not see them making big strides in this direction. Well, it is my health and I not going to wait for them while I pay with my health. I need to make my own health care reform by shifting my health attitudes today. This shift in personal health attitudes is an absolutely necessary step along with health care reform and preventive care to fix health care system in United States.
You can be an instrument of change. Share this article with others. This is our chance to change how we approach our health with combining true health care reform and preventive care. Contact me with your questions & feedback.
Be Well!
Rakesh Sethi
PS: First step in your health care reform and preventive care is to start Eating Right Foods as per your unique Mind-Body constitution. Learn this know-how in FREE “simple secrets to good health with right eating” mini course.
What Do You Think? Feel Free to Speak Your Mind
Share your comments, thoughts and suggestions below. I appreciate your time & will take the time to read every single one!
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Health Is Wealth: Realign Before its Too Late
When asked, what is your most important asset? Almost everyone often responds a house, a business, a car, or some other form of property or some say a relationship. Most responses revolve around money & material possessions. But truly, when mentioned, almost everyone agrees the most important asset we have is our health. The importance placed on these material forms of assets symbolizes that we have somewhere along line forgotten our true wealth, and unconsciously, we are spending our biggest asset, health, to gain wealth.
“Health Is Wealth” Cannot Be Taken for Granted
For many of us, we take our health for granted and have forgotten about our body. Keeping this body healthy is our first and foremost responsibility. The old proverb- “Health is Wealth” is so true. A body without health cannot function at its best to produce good relationships, wealth, and happiness.
Your Body is Your Primary “Vehicle” Not Your Car
We only get this one body for a lifetime- cars, houses, and things can be replaced. Our body is an irreplaceable “vehicle” for our lifetime. Let’s take good care of its health and well being. Keep your body fit to go through life’s journey. We are not machines. Our body is warm, alive, and natural. Then what can we expect from our body when we stuff it with frozen, dead, and synthetically processed food?
Time to Shift Health Fundamentals is Now
Take a look around you. The results are more than visible in our society with increase in chronic illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, anxiety disorders, depression, and fatal illness like cancer. Is the picture becoming clear? I hope it inspires you to shift your health attitudes.
How much more evidence we need to change our health fundamentals before it is too late? It is time to look from a different perspective and return to the health basics. The fundamental change is to treat and nurture our body with love and patience.
First step in changing health fundamentals is to start Eating Right Foods as per your unique Mind-Body constitution. Learn this know-how in FREE “simple secrets to good health” mini course. Subscribe here: