Empowered Pathways Newsletter

July 7, 2003

Gen Abrams, Publisher
Gen@empoweredpathways.com

..your link to better living
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Welcome!
.. to your "Empowered Pathways" newsletter!

It is my hope that through this newsletter, you will receive
information that will improve the quality of your life.
Included in each issue is information about health,
nutrition, herbals and supplements, simplifying life, living
more frugally, fun, faith, and joy!

It's all about empowerment, stuff that helps you be
in control of your life, your own pathway to better living!

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Gen (-:

In this Issue:

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Health, Nutrition and Supplements
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The Vital B's

Funk Gives It A Name

At the turn of 20th century many researchers were working on
proper nutrition for healthy metabolism and growth. Some of
the early findings indicated that the deficiency of some of
the organic compounds in the body could lead to diseases
like beriberi, rickets and scurvy.

Mr Christiaan Eikjman, a Dutch bacteriologist, discovered
that adding some rice hull to their diet could cure a certain
disease in chickens. Similar study on some prisoners on the
island of Java confirmed that rice hulls could cure the
disorder. Casimir Funk, a polish born biochemist working at
the Pasteur Institute in Paris continued the work of Eikjman.
Funk proposed that certain diseases are caused by dietary
deficiencies. In 1911 he demonstrated that rice extracts
cure beriberi in pigeons. In 1911, Funk found that an amine,
an organic compound derived from ammonia, was the element
that cured the disease like beriberi. Then he suggested that
diseases like beriberi, rickets and scurvy could be prevented
with "vital amines," or "vitamines." He published his research
under the title "The Vitamines." (Later on some research
showed that not all nutrition products are amines, and the
term was shortened to "vitamins.") Funk failed to find the
factor that prevents beriberi in human beings - thiamin, or
vitamin B1 - but once it had been isolated by Robert Williams
(1886-1965), Funk determined its molecular structure 1936
and developed a method of synthesizing it.

Funk, born in Warsaw, studied in Berne, Switzerland, and
worked at research institutes in Europe before emigrating
to the USA 1915. He returned to Warsaw 1923 but, because
of the country's uncertain political situation, went in 1927
to Paris, where he founded a research institution, the Casa
Biochemica. With the German invasion of France at the outbreak
of World War II in 1939, Funk returned to the USA. In 1940,
he became president of the Funk Foundation for Medical Research.

The Vital B Complex

The B-complex vitamins are actually a group of vitamins,
which include thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3),
pyridoxine (B6), folic acid (B9), cyanocobalamin (B12), and
pantothenic acid (B5). Biotin, choline, inositol, and PABA
are also part of the B group.

These vitamins are essential for:

• The breakdown of carbohydrates into glucose (this
  provides energy for the body)
• The breakdown of fats and proteins (which aids the
  normal functioning of the nervous system)
• Muscle tone in the stomach and intestinal tract
• Healthy skin, nails and hair
• Reducing stress and increasing stimina

Some Specifics:

• B vitamins are vulnerable to heat during cooking, and
  to baking soda and powder in baked goods.
• B vitamins are found in whole grains. Grains are the
  seeds of plants. They contain the following components from
  which plants reproduce:
  • Endosperm. This makes up the majority of the seed.
    It's where most of the protein, carbohydrate and small
    amounts of vitamins and minerals are located.
  • Germ. The new plant sprouts from the germ. It has B
    vitamins, trace minerals and some protein.
  • Bran. Bran is the outer layer of the grain seed. It's
    full of B vitamins, trace minerals and fiber.
  The milling process converts the grain into whole-grain flours
  or refined varieties. Whole-grain flours contain all of the
  parts of the grain. Refined flours contain only the endosperm.
  The bottom line: Refined grains are a good source of many
  nutrients. But whole grains are better. Check for the words
  whole grain in the ingredient listing. This indicates the
  product includes the endosperm, bran and germ - and all of
  their benefits.
• Thiamine (B1) is a component of the germ and bran of
  wheat, the husk of rice, and that portion of all grains that
  is commercially milled out to give the grain a lighter color
  and finer texture. (Remember Funk and the pigeons!)
• Riboflavin (B2) is America's most common vitamin
  deficiency.
• Riboflavin (B2) has a yellow pigment and colors the
  urine...don't be alarmed by this-it is not harmful!
• Much of B6 is lost in the processing of foods, and is
  not one of the vitamins that is "replaced" in the so called
  "enrichment" of processed foods. Vitamin B6, alone or with
  magnesium and GLA fatty acids, can help ease PMS symptoms,
  as shown in a number of studies.
• Women of childbearing years should supplement with
  folic acid before becoming pregnant to help prevent birth
  abnormalities. It is involved in the duplication of chrom-
  osomes during cell reproduction, a process that is accelerated
  during pregnancy when new tissue is being formed.
• Fifty percent of pantothenic acid is lost in the milling
  of grains and 37% in meat during cooking.

Since the B-complex vitamins are water-soluble, they are
not stored and therefore must be rep1aced continually. The
B vitamins are so interdependent, that they must be taken
together -- large doses of any one may be valueless or cause
the loss of the others. In nature, none of the B vitamins are
found apart from the others. The need for the complex
increases during chronic illness, stress, and when alcohol,
tobacco, and recreational drugs are used. Some prescription
drugs, such as oral contraceptives and prolonged use of
antibiotics and antiseizure medication, can increase the
body's need for B vitamins. Sources of the B Complex vitamins
are yeasts, green vegetables, and natural intestinal bacteria
that grow on milk sugar and small amounts of fat. In our diets
these can be killed by antibiotics, resulting in deficiency
after an illness where antibiotics have been deemed necessary.
B-complex supplements are especially important for smokers,
drinkers, and people with erratic diets or work schedules.

*These statements has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure or prevent any disease.
This notice is required by the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Here are a couple of excellent resources:

Dunne, Lavon J., "Nutrition Almanac"; McGraw-Hill 2002

Kellas, William Randall, Ph.D. and Dworkin, Andrea Sharon, N.D.,
"Thriving in a Toxic World"; Professional Preference 1996

"howstuffworks.com" http://science.howstuffworks.com/vitamin-b.htm

If you need further information, or want information about
my research, sources, or products I use, you can email me at:
Gen@empoweredpathways.com

Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to friends
or family who may benefit from this information!

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Opportunity Knocks
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Gen's Soapbox
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The Top 10 Strategies for Stress-Free Living

1. Identify and live by your values.

When we know what our values are, and our goals and actions
are in harmony with our values, we are seldom stressed or in
conflict about what we are doing.

2. Complete the Past.

Sometimes we hang on to voices or perceived injustices from
the past, long after the person or situation is dead and gone.
By bringing closure to these events, we are free to move
forward.

3. Plan for the Future.

It is important to know where we want to go and to have a
rough idea of how we plan to get there. While it is important
to give up final control to God or the Universe, we need a
sense of focus and direction to our lives. Planning for the
future gives us that sense of direction.

4. Live in the Present.

This is key. Once we have completed the past and planned
for the future, we need to stay focused in the here and now.
There is very little that we cannot handle in the moment.
(A clue: if you are feeling guilt, you are in the past. If
you are feeling fear, you are in the future. The absence of
those feelings generally means you are planted firmly in
the present!).

5. Understand that if you can dream it, then you can achieve
it.

If we are -- truly -- not capable of something, then it is
practically impossible for us to dream about it. Knowledge
of what we are capable of is in each and every cell of our
being. So no matter how wild and far-fetched your dream
appears, the very existence of the dream means that you can
achieve it if you are willing to commit to it.

6. Allow others to live their own lives.

Allowing others to be themselves and to live their own lives
is the first step in being able to be yourself and living
your own life. If you have any "shoulds" or expectations of
others, let them go. Shoulds kill relationships faster than
any weapon I know of and fill our lives with unnecessary
stress.

7. Recognize God in everyone.

Everyone (literally, everyone!) is a reflection of God.
Sometimes we have to dig a little deep to see it as our
perceptions, expectations and fears cloud our vision. But
when we can recognize how God is mirrored in each person,
our lives are calmer and freer!

8. Create reserves where you need them.

Stress is often created through lack, either right now or
right around the corner. Create reserves of time, space,
money, love, vitality and meaningful action, starting where
you feel most stressed.

9. Focus on being and not doing or having.

When we are focused on who we are, what kind of person we
are, we tend to be on a journey of spiritual evolution, which
in itself tends to have less stress (or the stress is less
stressful!). When we are focused on doing or having, we are
not focused on our higher selves, but only on certain
dimensions of who we are (and usually on what we think that
means). Be a being, not a doing!

10. Choose to be the best you possible.

Making a choice to be our best selves, to live life to our
fullest potential, typically allows us to transcend our lives
and reduces much stress because we understand that the source
of stress is temporary. Also, don't forget that today, you
are the best you've ever been! Revel in that fact.

About the Author:
This piece was written by Louise Morganti Kaelin, Life
Success Coach and publisher of The 3-Minute Coach,
who can be reached at louise@touchpointcoaching.com,
or visited on the web.
Copyright 2000-2003 CoachVille, LLC. May be distributed if
full attribution is given and copyright notice is included.

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Bible Verse
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    For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways,
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
    For as the rain cometh down,
    and the snow from heaven,
    and returneth not thither,
    but watereth the earth,
     and maketh it bring forth and bud,
    that it may give seed to the sower,
     and bread to the eater:
    So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:
     it shall not return unto me void,
    but it shall accomplish that which I please,
    and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

        Isaiah 55:9-11

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Remarkable Quote
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Your talent is God's gift to you.
What you do with it is your gift back to God.

Leo Buscaglia

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Reader Feedback
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If you have comments or questions, any feedback is greatly
appreciated! Please let me know if it is okay to share your
comments with other subscribers!
You can email me anytime at: Gen@empoweredpathways.com

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Disclaimers:
*These statements have not been approved by the Food and
Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose,
treat or cure or prevent any disease. This notice is required
by the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
The purpose of this newsletter is informational only, and
the publisher cannot be held responsible for actions taken
as a result of the information provided herein.
Although we believe our advertisers to be honest in their
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