TriVita’s Weekly Wellness Report
by Brazos Minshew, TriVita’s Chief Science Officer

Creating Your Wellness Sanctuary

The 10 Essentials of Health and Wellness are the keys to a happy, healthy life. No pill, potion, product or program that excludes these values will succeed for long. Any approach to wellness that you embrace will be enhanced and will have the greatest chance of lifelong success if it is built upon a foundation of the 10 Essentials.

The difference between wellness and illness is not so much the difference between “knowing” and “not knowing” the 10 Essentials; instead, it is the difference between “knowing” and “actually doing” the actions associated with true wellness. Do you agree? Then you will also agree that you not only need knowledge, you also need desire and a helpful setting. You need a wellness sanctuary!

Your sanctuary
What is a “wellness sanctuary”? It is a place and time where you can practice your wellness principles. It should be a stress-free zone, free from conflict. It should be a noise-free zone, where chatter and distractions are minimal or eliminated. It should be pleasant to all of your senses. Your sanctuary needs to be a place of rest and peace.

Your home or garden could be your wellness sanctuary. Or it could be a favorite room, or even a small space within a room. The idea is to make your sanctuary space a place where you can retreat from the relentless stress of the day. So you want to create an environment (big or small) that is conducive to your physical, emotional and spiritual wellness. Also remember, setting up your sanctuary and your wellness regimen is typically not achieved overnight. It could take some time to work it all out, so set SMART goals:

Specific as to time and place
Measurable in their application
Achievable given the reality of your world
Reasonable with respect to commitments you have already made
Timely in their execution
A very useful step we can take toward creating a sanctuary is to designate a specific time and place. Some people make their bedroom their first place of refuge, and then commit to specific do not disturb times for self-care. For example, some turn off their cell phones and retreat to their sanctuary (bedroom) an hour before they actually plan to sleep. There is no computer or television in their bedroom; the light is low and the colors are soft. Many will also journal their progress in applying the 10 Essentials to their lives (they journal with pen and paper, not an electronic gizmo) and meditate on ways to better apply what they know in pursuit of their goals.

Taking time for wellness
Once you have established your sanctuary “place,” it’s critical to also establish your sanctuary “time.” How much “me time” can you commit to on a regular basis? What time is best for you? What will you accomplish during this time?

Morning – in the morning hours, you could physically exercise and mentally prepare for your day by:

Engaging in a minimum of 30 minutes of activity, most days of the week, to satisfy Essential #5 (note: the healthiest cultures on earth spend about 2 1/2 hours daily in physical activity).
Planning your meals in order to get the most nutrition from them (Essential #4) and beginning your daily water intake (Essential #2).
Thinking about how you will…give and receive love during the day (Essential #6)…focus on specific things and people for which you are grateful (Essential #8)…set your spiritual compass for the day ahead (Essential #10).
Evening – during the latter part of the day, you could commit to greater health by:

Practicing deep breathing for 20 minutes (Essential #1).
Quieting your mind in preparation for 7 1/2 to 9 hours of peaceful sleep (Essential #3).
Let go of any lingering resentments from the day (Essentials #7 & #9).
Added Support

To make the most of your “sanctuary time,” it pays to be in a calmer state of body and mind. If you have trouble reaching this state, then there are two supplements in particular that could be added to your daily regimen.

Body – to help your body reach a calmer state, you can take Adaptogen 10 Plus®. Its unique blend of ingredients is specifically targeted to help your body better adapt to and overcome all the stresses of today’s hectic world.
Mind – to help your mind reach a more calm, relaxed and focused state, you can take Sublingual B-12. Many adults have a B-12 deficiency due to aging and diet, so you definitely want to check this out and see how it could help your own situation.
In Conclusion

For complete wellness, you need to learn and live the The 10 Essentials of Health and Wellness. And to help you best incorporate the 10 Essentials, you would benefit greatly by establishing a specific sanctuary of time and space and commit to it. You can always start small, and then later expand your self-care activities as your circumstances permit. But in any case, the goal is to create your very own personal haven of wellness.

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Take Control of Your Health

Make wellness a priority
Set Do Not Disturb times and places
Expand your sanctuary to include your entire domain
Use bright, cheery lighting in the morning
Plan your day well
Select soft, comforting shades in the evening
Conclude your day completely

Learn More!

The value of solitude
Healthy optimism
Mental resilience

Upcoming Weekly Wellness Reports…

The Nopalea Loading Phase
Hormone Balance

New! – Wellness Talks With Brazos Minshew

Listen to TriVita’s Chief Science Officer, Brazos Minshew, speak on a range of vital health topics. These talks will help you learn more about the science behind different TriVita products, as well as how they can help you and others with different health problems.

Date Topic
4/27/2010 Different Types of B-12
4/28/2010 Nopalea and Your Immune System
4/29/2010 Vitamin B-12: Blood Levels and Allergies
4/30/2010 Energy Now! Cellular Methylation
5/1/2010 Nopalea and Inflammation: Osteoarthritis

Join the live call, it’s easy, just dial in!
Date: Tuesdays – Saturdays
Start Time: 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m. ET
Length of Call: Approximately 15 minutes
Call Number: 1-866-739-2952
Call Passcode: 219192#

Send us your topic suggestions!
If you have specific health topics you’d like Brazos Minshew to discuss in upcoming reports,
click here to submit your suggestions.

Please note that Weekly Wellness Report topics will be chosen at the discretion of Brazos Minshew and based on general relevance.

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

© 2010 TriVita, Inc.

TriVita’s Weekly Wellness Report
by Brazos Minshew, TriVita’s Chief Science Officer

Spring clean with Vitamin C

Well, it’s officially spring in the Northern Hemisphere. This is the traditional time for spring cleaning – in our home and inside our body. Time to rid ourselves of all the junk we can’t use anymore and start fresh!

Vitamin C can help us clean out the old and make room for the new.

Would you like to hear something interesting about Vitamin C? Almost all mammals except humans produce Vitamin C as ascorbic acid in their livers. But not just mammals: Almost all animals in the Animal Kingdom produce Vitamin C every day to maintain their health. Why don’t humans produce Vitamin C? How much Vitamin C do people need to take? What effect does Vitamin C have in your body?

The role of Vitamin C
Let’s answer the easy question first: How much Vitamin C does a person need to take? Well, when animals produce Vitamin C it is according to their needs at that moment and during that particular time in their life. A young dolphin may produce much more Vitamin C than an older sibling or parent. However, all dolphins – and all other animals – produce more Vitamin C when they have an infection, when they are exposed to toxins and when they are under stress.

So, we understand that people need different amounts of Vitamin C at different times in their life. We also need more Vitamin C when we face challenges to our health and well-being. In a recent Weekly Wellness Report on colds and flu, we discussed how a Vitamin C flush can help you determine the precise amount of Vitamin C you can use during a given period in your life. The Vitamin C flush was recommended by two-time Nobel Laureate Dr. Linus Pauling, his protégé Dr. Alfred Libby and former director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Russell Jaffe.

What does your body do with all that Vitamin C?
Vitamin C makes things happen in your body.

• Bones – All of the minerals in your bones require Vitamin C to turn them from lifeless rocks into health-building minerals.

• Blood – Your blood needs Vitamin C to convert iron into hemoglobin.

• Thyroid – Your thyroid gland needs Vitamin C to convert copper into thyroid enzymes that carry protein.

• Collagen – All of the collagen in your skin, gums and the rest of your body requires Vitamin C to convert dead protein from your diet into living tissue. This makes you look good as well as feel good!

• Immune system function – Vitamin C activates a certain kind of immune cell called a lymphocyte. Lymphocytes, as the name implies, live mostly in your lymph system. However, they can travel in and out of your bloodstream as well. Lymphocytes that have been activated by your thymus gland can go anywhere in your body to fight disease. The thymus gland uses Vitamin C to program lymphocytes to search out one specific target and destroy it.

• Antioxidant protection – Vitamin C is also an antioxidant. Your body uses it to make glutathione – the “mother” of all antioxidants. What’s more, all other antioxidants can be refreshed by Vitamin C. Important antioxidants like Vitamins A and E can have their lifespan extended by Vitamin C. Antioxidants protect you from premature aging.

Vitamin C has so many functions that you could spend a lifetime studying this one important vitamin. Try the Vitamin C flush and determine how much Vitamin C you can use each day. It can be quite the “spring cleaning,” as it helps remove old lymphocytes and other debris held over in your body. I suggest that you repeat this procedure quarterly – at the change of the seasons. You will find your need for Vitamin C will diminish when you eat fresh fruits and vegetables. It will increase when you are under stress or facing illness.

Conclusion

Why don’t humans produce Vitamin C like other animals? The answer is that we don’t know. What we do know is that people are healthier when they eat Vitamin C-rich fruits and vegetables. And in this stress-filled, toxic world we have created, more Vitamin C is needed than a depleted diet can provide. This is why we have supplements to help us compensate for the special circumstances we find ourselves in today.

So, do your spring cleaning and start this season of your life in the best possible shape!

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Take Control of Your Health

Eat Vitamin C-rich fruits and vegetables:
Sweet and spicy peppers
Most fruits, especially berries and citrus
Dark green and yellow vegetables
Leafy green vegetables

Eat the right daily amount:
Children: 5 servings of fruit and vegetables
Women: 7 servings of fruit and vegetables
Men: 9 servings of fruit and vegetables

Remember, cooking destroys Vitamin C

Take your Healthy Aging supplements

Do the Vitamin C flush quarterly

*Please check with your healthcare provider before starting the Vitamin C Flush.

Learn More!

A Healthy Diet
Ten Tips for Healthy Aging

Upcoming Weekly Wellness Reports…

Create your own sanctuary
Nopalea Loading Phase

New! – Wellness Talks With Brazos Minshew

Listen to TriVita’s Chief Science Officer, Brazos Minshew, speak on a range of vital health topics. These talks will help you learn more about the science behind different TriVita products, as well as how they can help you and others with different health problems.

Date Topic
4/20/2010 Agave Nector
4/21/2010 Nopalea Loading Phase
4/22/2010 Vital C
4/23/2010 Vision Guard
4/24/2010 Bone Loss

Join the live call, it’s easy, just dial in!
Date: Tuesdays – Saturdays
Start Time: 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m. ET
Length of Call: Approximately 15 minutes
Call Number: 1-866-739-2952
Call Passcode: 219192#

Send us your topic suggestions!
If you have specific health topics you’d like Brazos Minshew to discuss in upcoming reports,
click here to submit your suggestions.

Please note that Weekly Wellness Report topics will be chosen at the discretion of Brazos Minshew and based on general relevance.

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

© 2010 TriVita, Inc.

TriVita’s Weekly Wellness Report
by Brazos Minshew, TriVita’s Chief Science Officer

Understanding Seasonal Allergies
April 10, 2010 – www.trivita.com/13295706

Seasonal Allergies: In Full Bloom
More and more people are experiencing allergies and suffering with related symptoms. In past Weekly Wellness Reports we have discussed how histamine receptors trigger inflammation in the four tissues they populate:

1.The airways
2.The digestive/reproductive tract
3.Our brain
4.Our immune system
Histamines are triggers for runaway inflammation.

If we are to combat the rise in allergy symptoms we must first understand them. How are histamines produced? What effect do they have on the four receptor sites (H-1, H-2, H-3, H-4)? These important questions require answers from anyone experiencing symptoms.

The four sites
We are all familiar with H-1 site (airways) symptoms: watery, itchy, inflamed eyes and nose, throat and lungs. The same signs of inflammation we experience in our respiratory tract with H-1 inflammation occur in the three other sites:

• H-2 sites (digestive/reproductive tracts) inflame and we experience: acid indigestion, gastric reflux, dyspepsia, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis and inflammation of the reproductive tract.

• H-3 sites (the brain) inflame and we experience: anxiety, agitation, insomnia, depression, attention deficit/hyperactivity, autism, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.

• H-4 sites (the immune system) inflame and we experience: autoimmune symptoms associated with chronic fatigue, body aches and pains, rapid aging and hormone disruption.

The root of the tree may be the same (histamines) but the fruit on the tree (symptoms) depends on our genetics, environmental factors and lifestyle choices. It also depends on timing. For example, an explosion of histamines in the brain may manifest as hyperactivity in the young and anxiety in the elderly (and insomnia in everyone).

Important for growth
Histamines are not “bad” chemicals – just misunderstood. We sometimes need histamines to protect us from poisons. When we have hay fever, our body misidentifies a harmless pollen grain as a toxic poison. Histamines actually flood the area to remove the pollen. However, these histamines are critically important in other ways. Our body uses controlled inflammation to accomplish good things. For example, we make histamines to facilitate the process of puberty. Just imagine the physical changes little boys and girls have to experience to become young men and women. These physical changes are caused by the controlled inflammation of histamines. Our ability to stay awake and alert is dependent upon histamines as well. However, when these become imbalanced we may experience symptoms such as PMS and hyperactivity.

Histamines form

To make histamines we need protein amino acids and the B vitamins folate and B-12. One important amino acid in forming histamines is methionine. A sign that our methionine metabolism is impaired is elevated homocysteine levels.

Many people have a hard time digesting Vitamin B-12. For example, people with any digestive irritation will be unable to absorb B-12. When B-12 levels go down, histamines go up! This is because normal, healthy levels of folate quickly become unbalanced and begin converting proteins to histamine. These histamines attach to any available receptor site.

Here is an important reason why people can experience different symptoms from the same basic cause (too little B-12): One person may be born with more H-1 receptors, so they experience allergies in the airways. Another person may be born with more H-3 receptors, so they experience insomnia. One person may simply be born with more receptor sites than another.

Restoring Balance

To bring balance back into the system we need Vitamin B-12. Please note: How much B-12 is in the bloodstream is not important in deciding how much B-12 you can use! Vitamin B-12 exits the blood system quickly and we may get a false impression of our actual need for nutrient balance by viewing B-12 this way. It is better to look at the end results if we are to truly determine the benefit of taking B-12. For example, elevated homocysteine levels tell us we need a high level of folate and B-12. Elevated histamine levels in our blood (or signs of excess histamines in our body) tell us we need extra Vitamin B-12, but less folic acid.

This is why I formulated Super Sublingual B-12 with large amounts of B-12 (both methyl- and cyano- B-12) and low amounts of folic acid. It is also why I formulated HCY Guard® with a closer ratio of the two nutrients and why Dr. Libby used a similar strategy.

Super Sublingual B-12 helps restore balance to people troubled by signs of high histamines. Regardless of your specific symptoms, Super Sublingual B-12 may be the relief you need from the inflammation of elevated histamines.

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Take Control of Your Health

•Reduce your exposure to toxins – go green!

•Increase deep breathing

•Maximize water consumption

•Get adequate sleep and reduce stress

•Take B-12 to help slow histamine formation

•Take Nopalea™ to break the cycle of inflammation

Learn More!

Go Green!
Food Allergies

Upcoming Weekly Wellness Reports…

•Spring cleaning
•Create your own sanctuary
New! – Wellness Talks With Brazos Minshew

Listen to TriVita’s Chief Science Officer, Brazos Minshew, speak on a range of vital health topics. These talks will help you learn more about the science behind different TriVita products, as well as how they can help you and others with different health problems.

Date Topic
4/13/2010 Insomnia
4/14/2010 Sleep Hygiene
4/15/2010 Compressed Sleep
4/16/2010 Snoring Apnea
4/17/2010 Sleep and Pain

Join the live call, it’s easy, just dial in!
Date: Tuesdays – Saturdays
Start Time: 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m. ET
Length of Call: Approximately 15 minutes
Call Number: 1-866-739-2952
Call Passcode: 219192#

Send us your topic suggestions!
If you have specific health topics you’d like Brazos Minshew to discuss in upcoming reports,
click here to submit your suggestions.

Please note that Weekly Wellness Report topics will be chosen at the discretion of Brazos Minshew and based on general relevance.

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

© 2010 TriVita, Inc

TriVita’s Weekly Wellness Report
by Brazos Minshew, TriVita’s Chief Science Officer

Taking the “flame” out of inflammation
April 3, 2010 – www.trivita.com/13295706

We usually describe the process of inflammation like a series of dominos all set up and ready for something to tip over the first domino and start the chain reaction. The first one tips over the second one, which tips over the third one and so on. This is called the “domino effect.” Clever people can set up these dominos in an amazing array of complicated designs.

Inflammation is a process much like that. A single event may trigger a domino effect of inflammatory reactions. While many of the reactions are fairly predictable, many others are not. They seem to involve amazingly complicated patterns unique to the individual. Still, all inflammation exhibits five basic signs caused by four basic triggers.

Signs of inflammation
With tissue injury, inflammation is part of the healing process:

1.Redness: An injured area needs an increased supply of nutrients and proteins carried in the blood. So, blood supply increases and the tissue turns red (Latin: rubor).

2.Swelling: The injured area is bathed in healing proteins and substances to control bleeding, as well as an increased supply of plasma for transport of waste. This causes the injured area to swell (Latin: tumor).

3.Pain: The injured area needs to be protected. We instinctively guard an injury because we feel or anticipate pain (Latin: dolor).

4.Heat: The damaged tissue now becomes weakened and so it is susceptible to infection. White blood cells rush to the area and defend the fragile cells from microbes. A sign that this is working is heat or fever in the damaged area (Latin: calor).

5.Loss of Function: This process is accompanied by a reduction in function of the injured area until it is healed (Latin: functio laesa).
The “dominoes” fall in the same predictable pattern if the injury is a sprained ankle or heart attack! No matter what triggers the inflammation, the process is the same.

Inflammation triggers
Inflammation is the response to four basic triggers: trauma, toxins, deficiency and stress. All four of these triggers cause tissue injury. Our body responds to injury with inflammation.

•Trauma
We usually think of trauma as a direct injury that causes pain and distress. However, a sedentary lifestyle is also a serious cause of trauma. Why? Because our body was made to move! The more we move, the more we are able to move – and the more we want to move. The less we move, the less we are able to move. Our muscles and other tissues shorten and atrophy. Then, any movement causes injury. So, the less we move, the less we want to move.

•Toxins
Toxicity causes cells to rupture in the same way that a needle causes a balloon to pop. Is there any doubt that we live in a toxic world? An article in National Geographic estimated that humans create 700,000 tons of pollution and waste every day! Between these “exotoxins” (toxins created outside our body), and “endotoxins” (toxins created inside our body), we are bathed in inflammation-producing poison every moment of every day. Any successful strategy for reducing inflammation must address the level of toxins we face.

•Deficiency
Deficiencies also cause inflammation. For example, an omega-3 essential fatty acid (EFA) deficiency leaves the cell walls weak and unable to function normally. Again, cells are like balloons. If the balloon membrane is too thin, even a normal amount of air will make it pop. If the cell wall is too thin because of an omega-3 EFA deficiency, even normal cell activity will cause the cell to pop and trigger the domino effect of inflammation. Similarly, deficiency of other nutrients can have a catastrophic effect on cells within your body. (A deficiency in oxygen, water, sleep and circulation can also trigger inflammation.)

•Stress
Emotional distress is also a cause of inflammation. When we appraise a situation to be stressful, our brain releases chemicals called catecholamines that trigger the release of many inflammatory processes. For example, stress causes the release of insulin – a pro-inflammatory hormone. Too much stress over too long a period of time will cause insulin resistance (IR), which is associated with obesity. Other stress-related chemicals reduce circulation to our digestive and reproductive systems and trigger inflammation from blood deficiency. Stress is a serious cause of inflammation!
First steps
We are made with the ability to respond to trauma, toxins, deficiency and stress with inflammation. Therefore, inflammation is not the enemy; however, runaway inflammation is definitely our enemy! Stop the domino effect of runaway inflammation before it starts by learning and living the 10 Essentials for Health and Wellness.

•Reduce basic nutrient deficiencies through our Healthy Aging program.
•Help reduce the effect of harmful toxins with Nopalea™.
•Ease the disturbances caused by emotional distress with anti-stress adaptogens.
A word about Nopalea
Once runaway inflammation is triggered it follows an amazingly intricate course leading to catastrophe. It is as if tens of thousands of dominoes are falling in an extremely complex design. Many of the steps are known to medical science, but many are not. One thing we know and have known for thousands of years: stop the runaway inflammation and health will always improve! So, no matter what the “condition” is that is causing distress, reducing excess inflammation will always improve the way we feel.

Betalains in Nopalea are anti-inflammatory nutrients. They help your body do what it does best: repair with controlled inflammation while dousing the flames of runaway inflammation. So, we can say with confidence that if runaway inflammation is the problem, reducing that inflammation is part of the solution. Address the root causes of runaway inflammation by following the 10 Essentials, and taking Healthy Aging nutrients, adaptogens and Nopalea!

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Take Control of Your Health

•Eat 5, 7 or 9 servings of fruit and vegetables each day. Include a rainbow of colors, including leafy
green vegetables.
•Supplement appropriately:
◦Healthy Aging nutrients to fill deficiency
◦Nopalea to put out the fire and drain toxins
◦Adaptogen 10 Plus to help counteract damage caused by stress
•Sleep peacefully every night and enjoy activity
every day

Learn More!

Protecting Against Alzheimer’s
Health is the Whole

Upcoming Weekly Wellness Reports…

•Seasonal allergies
•Spring cleaning
New! – Wellness Talks With Brazos Minshew

Listen to TriVita’s Chief Science Officer, Brazos Minshew, speak on a range of vital health topics. These talks will help you learn more about the science behind different TriVita products, as well as how they can help you and others with different health problems.

Date Topic
4/6/2010 Deep Breathing
4/7/2010 Water
4/8/2010 Sleep
4/9/2010 Eat Nutritiously
4/10/2010 Q&A

Join the live call, it’s easy, just dial in!
Date: Tuesdays – Saturdays
Start Time: 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m. ET
Length of Call: Approximately 15 minutes
Call Number: 1-866-739-2952
Call Passcode: 219192#

Send us your topic suggestions!
If you have specific health topics you’d like Brazos Minshew to discuss in upcoming reports,
click here to submit your suggestions.

Please note that Weekly Wellness Report topics will be chosen at the discretion of Brazos Minshew and based on general relevance.

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

© 2010 TriVita, Inc.