One Of the Most Powerful Videos You Will Ever See

This is one of the most powerful videos you will ever see. In the most desperate situations, someone was there to save the day.

Moscow Subway Ticket Machine Accepts Squats As Payment

Moscow subway ticket machine accepts squats as payment to promote exercise for 2014 Olympics.

After reading this, you’ll never look at a Banana in the same way again

Bananas contain three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.
Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes.
But energy isn’t the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.
DEPRESSION:
According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.
PMS:
Forget the pills – eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.
ANEMIA:
High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.
BLOOD PRESSURE:
This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.
BRAIN POWER:
200 students at a Twickenham school ( England ) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
CONSTIPATION:
High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.
HANGOVERS:
One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

HEARTBURN:
Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.
MORNING SICKNESS:
Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.
MOSQUITO BITES:
Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
NERVES:
Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system..
Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.
ULCERS:
The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chroniclercases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
TEMPERATURE CONTROL:
Many other cultures see bananas as a ‘cooling’ fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.
So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has FOUR TIMES the protein, TWICE the carbohydrate, THREE TIMES the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals.. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, ‘A BANANA a day keeps the doctor away.

President of Uruguay Donates 90% of his Salary to Charity

It’s easy to express opinion on the ‘what’s’ and ‘ifs’ of life, but rarely do individuals who feel so strongly about the necessity to share more act upon their strongly formed beliefs. One inspirational figure who has side-stepped the guilt and ego tied up in arguing over proper societal standards to live by is Jose Mujica, the president of Uruguay who has willingly kept himself in lower societal class to help others.

Mujica, 77, was elected in 2009 of the second smallest nation in South America; however, he has
no interest in taking on the grand presidential life.

Humbly living in a farmhouse off the dirt road with his wife, whom both toil the soil, Mujica has donates 90% of his salary to charity and lives completely satisfied, clear that he does not need more to appreciate life. The austere leader earns approximately $12,500 a month, but only keeps $1,250 for himself, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported.

“I do fine with that amount; I have to do fine because there are many Uruguayans who live with much less,” Jose told the paper. His focus is on helping the poor and supporting the entrepreneurs. Seeing beyond the temporary pleasures afforded by consumer-driven living, his heart goes out to all the people, knowing the best way he can help is to be the change.

“This is a matter of freedom,” he told BBC News. “If you don’t have many professions then you don’t need to work all your life like a slave to sustain them, and therefore you have more time for yourself.” Mujica’s passion for change isn’t limited to the example he shares; instead, he’s also intent on impressing his philanthropic ways to other world leaders.

His philosophy on poverty and consumption was shared at the Rio +20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in June. “If all I’m doing is working to buy things to get more, if society of consumption is the energy of everything, where does this go?” he asked. “We need to start to fight for another kind of culture.”

Openly accusing other world leaders of having a “blind obsession to achieve growth with consumptions”, the president is clearly in opposition to left-brained obsession of achieving more whilst forgetting it’s people. His argument draws in environmental factors and respect for the societies governed by its many leaders.

And regarding his ‘poor’ lifestyle which has gained criticism, Jose has remarked that, “I’m called ‘the poorest president’, but I don’t feel poor. Poor people are those who only work to try to keep an expensive lifestyle, and always want more and more”.

Thanks to Jose’s plight, Uruguay is on the forefront of change; becoming one of the first nations to possibly legalize Marijuana and drive focus to helping all of its people, many more positive changes are sure to be implemented.

In Jose Mujica’s logic, if we are all here together in the same world, shouldn’t we take care of our brothers and sisters? What areas of your life could you give more from?

By: Amanda Froelich,

True Activist

Credits:

BBC News

Huffington Post, Jose Mujica

Rio 20+ United Nations Conference
Image Credit: Flickr / Vince Alongi  

6 Ways to Use Coconut Oil for Healthy Skin

When it comes to having healthy skin, there is an entire industry that exists to makemoney off of questionable practices and products. At any given drug store, there is at least one full aisle containing nothing but creams, soaps, cleansers, and serums for better skin. Skin problems—like acne, dry skin, and wrinkles—happen to nearly everyone at some point, but you don’t need to slather your face with toxic chemicals in order to get positive results. Actually, all you may need is some coconut oil.


Coconut oil can serve many different uses when it comes to natural skin care. While it isn’t right for every skin type, some people can pitch their costly (and potentially damaging) skin creams for this all natural solution.
Cold-pressed organic coconut oil mimics sebum, the skin’s lubrication system. Also, because it’s anti-microbial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal, it helps strengthen your body’s defenses; after all, the skin is the immune system’s first line of defense. It is these same properties that lead to the countless health benefits of coconut oil, including its ability to rid the mouth of harmful bacteria.

Here are 6 ways coconut oil can benefit the skin:

• 1. Wound healing - Because coconut oil has these various protective qualities, it is a good choice to use as a wound-healing solution. It can prevent infection and speed the healing process.

• 2. Eczema - Coconut oil is also effective in the treatment of atopic dermatitis, or eczema. This skin disorder produces an itchy red rash and sometimes scaly, dry patches.

• 3. Wrinkle-reduction - Because coconut oil helps produce collagen (the connective tissue in the skin) it can help keep your skin looking younger, longer. Apply it around the eyes and to areas where wrinkles are common.

• 4. Make-up removal - Coconut oil makes an excellent eye make-up remover, one that doesn’t contain any unnatural toxins. Simply massage a little around the eyes and wipe clean with a soft tissue.

• 5. Hair conditioner - By using coconut oil on your hair before you shampoo, you won’t be left with any oily residue. The coconut oil still acts to hydrate the hair and is a great option for people with very dry hair.

• 6. Dry patches - Anywhere you would normally use Vaseline, you can use coconut oil. Use it as a treatment for dry heels or elbows, or on hands in the cold, dry winter months.

Source:
Natural Society
Image Credit

8 Sleeping Positions & Their Effects On Health

 

In what position do you sleep most often? It turns out this is a very important question. Getting enough sleep is the most important thing – but did you know that how you sleep can also impact your health? Sleeping on your back with your arms at your side is generally considered to be the best sleeping position for spine health and it's good for your neck too, as long as you don't use too many pillows. That said, back sleepers tend to snore more than those in any other position and sleep apnea is strongly associated with sleeping on the back. Let's take a look at eight common sleeping positions and what they do to your body: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prescription Drugs Kill Over 100,000 People Each Year, Are You Being Medicated Incorrectly?

“Death by medicine is a twenty-first century epidemic, and America’s war on drugs is clearly directed at the wrong enemy.” –Dr. Joseph Mercola [2]

I have briefly focused on mushrooms and cannabis as medicine sources. Now, it is only fair to shine the spotlight on the other side of the medicinal spectrum: prescription drugs. One could go through and list the pros and cons of each individual prescription drug or, to save some time, one could first approach prescription drugs as a whole. Doing so exposes an alarming truth, ringing louder than the individual benefits of each drug.  Prescription drugs are currently responsible for more deaths annually than illegal drugs.  According to Tom Frieden, the CDC director himself, “it’s a big problem, and it’s getting worse [3].”

Out of the 783,936 annual deaths from conventional medicine mistakes, approximately 106,000 of those are the result of prescription drug use [1]. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, two-hundred and ninety people in the United States are killed by prescription drugs every day [4].

Even if prescription drugs do not literally kill a patient though, they slowly kill their mind and body. This alters their ability to innately feel deeply and compassionately, the patient can be stripped piece by piece of his inner awareness and inner consciousness, the very essence of their being.

Death by Rx can be sentenced in the form of many, often times subtle masks. Since it happens slowly, the clouding of the patient’s once clear brain goes unnoticed as the fog sets in so densely that he is no longer able to decipher if this new state of consciousness is “normal” or if it is better or less than it should be; rather, it just is. The body system is inevitably forced to adjust to the foreign  chemicals the patient pops in his mouth every morning, activating the conditioning of acceptance of his new found state of awareness as if it is as it has always been. As if this shift in consciousness ceased to ever occur. Little by little he fades, until the place where his mind now resides is one far away.

Prescription pills merely treat, or should I say bandage, undesirable behaviors and sensations as opposed to addressing the underlying root cause of the problem. Band-Aids disintegrate as the medication fades, only to unveil unwanted symptoms once more.  For example, a patient tells their doctor they are abnormally tired, at which point the doctor delivers a diagnosis of “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” equipped with a prescription for a medication that promotes “wakefulness” such as Vyvanse, Nuvigil, Provigil, or Adderall. Entering the picture before you can so much as dig your toes into the problems accompanied with use or potential abuse of stimulants is a bright red flag. 

One that arose before the doctor’s pen was able to so much as brush against his Rx pad.  “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,” similar to countless other diagnoses accepted by an outlandish amount of patients with each given day, is not a diagnosis. It is a symptom. A symptom of a diagnosis that the doctor failed to put a respectable amount of effort into identifying. People do not become chronically tired for no reason, lest they fall chronically lazy; in which case a prescription surely exists for as well. Chronic debilitating fatigue is a clear sign the body system is not functioning at its optimal level. Knowledge that the body will always work to do what is necessary to survive, and that even then, it is still immensely fatigued, sets off a deafening siren signaling the presence of a problem too big for the body’s system to compensate for. The sad and infuriating truth is that a large handful of people diagnosed with “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” and numerous other disorders are in reality suffering from something as simple as a nutritional deficiency, easily identifiable with a hair analysis test. I use the term “simple” because when this is the case, a stout dose of the select nutrient may be administered to the patient on a temporary basis, during which the deficiency will correct itself and the patient will be alleviated of “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.”

Scenarios like this easily occur due to the average dietary standards, or lack thereof, followed by the majority of society. It is truly a shame to think of a person taking prescription drugs with an essay length of possible side effects, when the answer to their health problem lay within the painless process of nutrient replenishment all along. Some doctors, not all, are quite apt to spatting off spoof diagnoses and prescribing whatever dangerous drug their alleged diagnosis may require. And to what expense? Useless, avoidable suffering of a patient whose doctor overlooked the most obvious and important symptom of all -that the patient, like himself, is a human being. An equal being treated inhumanely by a fellow human being who he sought out with trust regarding his problem.  Take a step back, take the truth in. This happens frequently, so there is no use to pretend, let it all sink in. Now, who is the truly sick one?

Logically speaking, the war on drugs would be on the ones responsible for the most fatalities and health complications, the ones that are easily accessible and right in front of our faces, the ones which remain legal despite all this; rather than on the drugs that are already illegal and monitored, more difficult to obtain, and responsible for less deaths. Taking the bigger picture into account, if the war on drugs was honestly centered on the well-being of society, focus would be placed on drugs most harmful to the human body system, prescription drugs. But that is logically speaking and unfortunately, logically speaking commonly translates to wishful thinking in the world of war, medicine and illegal drugs. With each passing moment, “logic” becomes more and more of a foreign concept to the major parties in charge of the world of conventional western medicine.

References:

1. Null, G PHD. (2011). Death by Medicine. Mount Jackson, VA: Praktikos Books.

2. Mercola, J. “The New Epidemic Sweeping Accross America (and it’s Not a Disease). Mercola.com. 26 October 2011. Web. 1 May 2013. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/10/26/prescription-drugs-number-one-cause-preventable-death-in-us.aspx

3. Glover, S, Girion, L. “Prescription drug-related deaths continue to rise in U.S.” Los Angeles Times. 29 March 2013. Web. 1 May 2013. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-prescription-drugrelated-deaths-continue-to-rise-20130329,0,2980747.story

4. Starfield, B. (2000). The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Vol 284, No 4. Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.