Obviously not all women experience the same amount or the same rate of muscle loss, but they do lose muscle related to menopause.

This is a double whammy for women my age. First, unless we are diligent to exercise, we are losing the muscle that holds our joints in place and gives us strength. Without adequate muscle we will be vulnerable to the back, hip, and knee injuries that plague some of my friends. Without adequate muscle, we can't exercise effectively, and exercise consistently shows up as a key to an active and healthy life.

But that is only half of the story. Muscle is more "metabolically active" than fat tissue. Muscle at rest burns more calories than fat at rest. So, if you continue to eat exactly the same as you ate in younger days, since you are losing muscle, you will be adding fat. It's inevitable - unless you are pro active you will gain weight and add fat after menopause.

Because I know this I take exercise seriously. To a certain degree I have been successful. My hiking, tubing, weight lifting and line dancing friends and myself have better muscle tone and lead more active lives than the other women around us. However it's equally obvious that my muscle tone isn't what it was 10 years ago. Last winter I put on several pounds - all of it around my middle. Unheard of! My weight has always gone to my legs, not my waist. (I'm going to blog about those pounds another day. They were perplexing for several reasons).

One day in April, Tricia, my weight lifting partner, and I were at the fitness center. I said that I thought I was accustomed to my current bench press weight and I was going to increase. Everything started fine, but after a few reps there was a sharp pain in my right arm.

My arm was sore for several days then felt better. I tried bench presses again and it didn't feel good. So the next time I saw my Strong Son, I told him about the injury and said that I was trying not to be scared, but that several friends had been through rotator cuff surgery. He did three quick tests and assured me that it was not my rotator cuff. It is wonderful to have a physical therapist as a son.

My arm continued to hurt. We had lunch with SS last week, and he asked how my arm was. I described the continuing pain. He began a complete exam, right in the living room. After checking me from shoulder to fingertips, he told me that I had strained a nerve.

I didn't even know that nerves could be strained. But evidently nerve strains are not uncommon.

He gave me a nerve stretching exercise to do three times a day. I am amazed how quickly my arm has responded. I am not doing bench presses yet. But I am doing other upper body exercises without pain.

I realize this blog may seem like it's sending mixed messages, but think of it as two sides of a coin. If you are a woman my age, you have to take exercise seriously, but don't push to the point of pain. Be active, but be smart and be patient.

Are food companies finally waking up to the benefits of keeping fiber in our foods?

I know these were just simple almond nuts but if this is any indication of the type of information food companies are paying attention too, we consumers and ERFYT ‘ers are going to benefit tremendously.

The tests were supposed give me answers, but every test came back normal. "Then why does my stomach hurt all the time," I asked the doctor's assistant. "Stress and diet," she answered. I said, "I eat healthier than anyone I know, and my only stress is this stomach pain." She had no reply.

After storming around the house, I felt God leading me to go back to a health food store where I had shopped for years. I was looking for something natural that I hadn't tried yet. I don’t know how the Blood Type Diet had slipped under my radar. I did a lot of reading about nutritional issues. Perhaps it was the word "diet". Since I wasn't unhappy with my weight, I wasn't looking for a diet in that sense of the word.

When I read that Type Os were the most likely to have stomach pain, and that wheat and dairy were the worst foods for Type O, I was intrigued. I bought the book and went on the BTD cold turkey June 13, 2003. In a week I was off of all medication. In two weeks I was pain free. I have never looked back, and never wavered from my enthusiasm for the BTD.

I've learned a lot in ten years.
The BTD is not about how food tastes. Lots of avoids are very appealing when they are in my mouth. But more often than not, I don't feel good after I eat avoids.

When I think back to when my children were toddlers, I can see now that they naturally gravitated to foods that were right for their type. People seem to lose that sensitivity to what makes them feel good as they get older.

At first glance the Type O diet, might appear to be grain free, but it is not. It is important that I get 1.5 servings of grain every day.

The BTD doesn't have to be expensive. I buy certain hard to find items at health food stores and on the internet, but I do most of my shopping at a regular grocery store.

I don't have to be neurotic about avoids. I am highly compliant at home. At restaurants I do the best I can without being a burden to my server, and at a friend's home I enjoy what has been prepared for me.

Having two blood types in my family makes things more complicated, but certainly not impossible, especially when everyone in the family saw their health improve on the BTD.

I had finished unloading my groceries at the checkout line. The cashier picked up a box of rice crackers and said "Is this how you stay so thin?" My initial response was to tell her that I liked the crackers, but they were mostly for my husband.

The more I thought about it, the more I smiled. Finally I was chuckling. Then I said to her,

"They need to let you do training for new cashiers. Most of the time a cashier asks me whether I found everything I needed. That makes me think of the things I don't have. You tell me that I look thin, who cares whether I found what I wanted to buy."

I went on, saying, "You could say 'Your hair looks great,' or 'who does your nails' or 'what a cute outfit'. Customers would leave the store smiling."

By now she and I are both laughing out loud. Probably the people in other lines thought we were crazy. But I left the store smiling, and I didn't care about what I hadn't been able to find.

The one we joined comes to about $20 a week and runs for 26 weeks. The farm itself is 50 miles away from us, but the pickup location is only 5 miles away. I pick it up on Wednesday afternoons, and the food is harvested on Wednesday morning- the shares vary slightly for those who pick up on other days of the week, depending on what’s ready that day. The farm sends out emails to tell us what’s in the box each week, so we can do menu planning.

I’m hoping that having fresh produce in the house will encourage my kids to eat more veggies. Jack enjoyed the kale chips I made last week with half the kale we got in the box- I plan to make another batch later today with the rest of it. We also got bok choy in the last box, which I used to make stir-fries. Hannah REALLY enjoyed those stir-fries. I’ll probably make something similar for her with whatever greens we get in this week’s box, as bok choy isn’t in this week’s portion.

The only disadvantage of the CSA is that I have less control over which veggies enter my house. I don’t normally buy bok choy because it’s a “black dot” for me, but I had some this week anyway. It’s organic, grown less than 100 miles from my house, and in limited quantity. I’m going to enjoy it. I even ate one strawberry, even though those are an “avoid” for me. But my kids ate most of both of those. Later in the year, we’ll be getting in things like cabbage and cauliflower, which are “avoids” for me but neutral or beneficial for Jack. I’ll certainly encourage him to eat lots of those foods when we get them- which will be a definite advantage to having this “forced variety” of foods in the house.

A few weeks ago, when I mentioned that the CSA was going to be starting soon, Jack thought it stood for Community Supported Awesomeness. I think he’s right.

Hay muchas fuerzas poderosas motivadas por el dinero, las cuales respaldan la continúa creencia del mito del colesterol.

El Colesterol es Esencial para una Vida Saludable.

El Dr. D'Adamo ha sido líder en ayudar a la gente a entender la verdad sobre el colesterol, y tantos otros mitos que circulan por doquier, dictado conferencias sobre estos importantes temas, para entender por qué el colesterol es realmente una molécula muy importante y es realmente nuestro amigo en lugar de nuestro enemigo.

Qué sucedería si no tuviéramos colesterol?

Ejemplos sobran, pero uno destacado seria el síndrome de Smith-Lemli-Opitz o SLOS, que es un síntoma de deficiencia genética de colesterol. Es cuando las personas no pueden hacer suficiente colesterol por su propia cuenta. Un feto no puede sintetizar su propio colesterol, entonces esto usualmente resulta en aborto espontáneo. Así que enseguida vemos que el colesterol es necesario para la vida misma. Autismo o retraso mental así como retraso en el desarrollo como defectos físicos en manos, pies y/u órganos internos, suelen ser causa de falta de síntesis de colesterol. No olvidemos los experimentos del Ángel de la Muerte Josef Mengele en los campos de concentración durante la segunda guerra mundial, privando a sus victimas de grasa en sus dietas, entre muchos otros experimentos infrahumanos.

El Colesterol Es Esencial para el Funcionamiento Celular

Lo que esto nos dice es que la deficiencia de colesterol afecta a prácticamente todos los aspectos de su salud. Una de las principales razones para este efecto generalizado se debe a que el colesterol juega un papel crítico dentro de las membranas celulares. Su cuerpo está compuesto por millones de células que necesitan interactuar unas con otras. El colesterol es una de las moléculas que permite que se lleven a cabo estas interacciones. Por ejemplo, el colesterol es el precursor de los ácidos biliares, por lo que sin suficientes cantidades de colesterol, su sistema digestivo puede verse afectado negativamente.

También juega un papel esencial en su cerebro, el cual contiene alrededor del 25 por ciento del colesterol en el cuerpo. Es fundamental para la formación de sinapsis, es decir, las conexiones entre las neuronas, que permiten pensar, aprender nuevas cosas y formar recuerdos. De hecho, hay razón para creer que las dietas bajas en grasa y/o fármacos que reducen el colesterol pueden causar o contribuir a la enfermedad de Alzheimer. Los niveles bajos de colesterol también se han relacionado con la conducta violenta, debido a los cambios adversos (tambien causados por lectinas no filosóficamente compatibles) en la química del cerebro.

Además, usted necesita colesterol para producir hormonas esteroides, incluyendo hormonas del sexo. La vitamina D también se sintetiza a partir de un pariente cercano del colesterol: 7-dehidrocolesterol. De hecho, se llega a la hipótesis de que la enfermedad cardíaca es probablemente el resultado de la deficiencia de colesterol - que por supuesto es todo lo contrario de un punto de vista convencional.

Estas lipoproteínas necesitan transportar el colesterol a través de su cuerpo para que los beneficios del colesterol puedan ser utilizados por su cuerpo, entre ellos son los; ácidos biliares, hormonas sexuales, toda esta maquinaria grandiosa, de modo que pueda realizar esta función optima, buen metabolismo y una buena rotación de las partículas de colesterol LDL. Tenemos un receptor denominado receptor de LDL. Y la función del receptor es llevar las lipoproteínas a las células, de modo que puedan ser utilizadas para cumplir con todas estas funciones.

La insulina ayuda a producir más hormona tiroidea, y ayuda a activar la T4 en T3. Esto ayuda a aumentar la actividad del receptor LDL y rotar estas partículas LDL. El problema es que una gran parte de nuestra población es resistente a la insulina. La insulina está allí (tal vez aún más insulina de lo normal), pero no está llevando a cabo su función correctamente. Corregir la resistencia a la insulina es probablemente un factor importante para normalizar la función tiroidea, que a su vez podría normalizar el metabolismo del colesterol.

La resistencia a la insulina (ver video sobre lectinas) es la causa de casi todas las enfermedades crónicas conocidas por el hombre, y esto también refuerza que la normalización de su sensibilidad a la insulina debe ser su máxima prioridad, en caso de querer detener o revertir la progresión de cualquier proceso de enfermedad, u optimizar su salud y prevenir la enfermedad en primer lugar.

La vitamina D y K2 trabajan en conjunto para fortalecer los huesos y mejorar la salud del corazón. Mi fuente favorita de vitamina K2 son los vegetales fermentados (de acuerdo a mi swami personalizado) hechos con una capsula de polyflora de acuerdo a mi tipo sanguíneo, también los huevos y ciertos quesos tienen gran contenido de K2. Gracias al Dr. D'Adamo por hacer los cálculos correspondientes y darnos a cada quien lo que nos corresponde a través del reporte swami personalizado nutrigenomico.

Importante es entender que tenemos el poder de curarnos y prevenir; tomemos la responsabilidad de nuestro propio estilo de vida saludable. No hay que ir al medico como si fuéramos al taller mecánico o de compostura. Permitan que su swami personalizado les sirva de guía/instructivo para lograr dicho fin tan necesario en nuestros días. Ya saben donde localizarme/correo.

"It will help children have healthier teeth," they said. Ignoring the fact that while fluoride might benefit pre born babies in the womb, it contributes to osteoporosis in menopausal women.

Now I read an article that the whey protein fad is a similar scam. Whey is a byproduct of cheese and Greek yogurt manufacture.

Modern Farmer claims that whey is so toxic to the environment, that it illegal to dump. If it is put in streams and rivers, it robs the water of so much oxygen that fish and other aquatic life start to die off.

So the deviously brilliant marketers looked around for a place to sell their whey waste products. They convinced parents that it adds protein to baby formula. They convinced athletes that it will build muscle.

Whey protein is avoid for Type Os and Type As. Occasionally I see a post from a body builder trying to convince himself (or herself) that something so highly advertised couldn't really be avoid. I think the key words in that sentence are "highly advertised."

Now you have one more reason (as if you needed more than your BTD food list) to stay away from whey. Type As - go for soy protein. Type Os - go for egg white protein.

Bs and Abs - you will make the cheese and yogurt companies happy if you pay them for their trash.

The title of this blog is a Bible verse - Ephesians 4:26 to be exact. It reminds me that even though I get mad at marketers, I should not let anger dominate my life or make me stressed.

After I posted this blog, I went to photograph a kindergarten graduation. The kids were so cute, and I had a wonderful time. On the way home I remembered another example of food processors using advertising to convince us that something bad was really good; when in truth, it was only good for their pocketbooks. Adelle Davis recommended that no one eat palm or coconut oil because of the high amount of saturated fat. She decried the processed food industry's use of those to oils in crackers and pastries because they were inexpensive.

Dr. D agrees. Coconut oil is avoid for all types except O non secretors, and it's not beneficial even for them.

However, advertisements abound promoting coconut oil as a miracle healer. The high saturated fat content is ignored. I'm guessing that the profit margins are enormous.

The ads sound like snake oil to me...but I'd better be careful. I'm starting to get angry again.

Soon another window started popping up. It said "Five foods never to eat" and there was a picture of a very ripe banana. Bananas are beneficial for Type O, so again I was curious. I clicked the link, expecting an advertisement, but when another video started, I thought, "I'll give it 60 seconds." After 60 seconds I escaped.

Still being curious, I began to bing bananas, and I found some interesting and useful information.

Very ripe bananas with dark patches produce a substance called TNF. Research indicates that TNF can combat abnormal cells. The more dark patches a banana has, the higher its level of TNF.

According to a Japanese study TNF from ripe bananas has anti-cancer properties. The riper the banana, the better the anti-cancer quality. Researchers at Tokyo University compared the health benefits of several different fruits, including banana, grape, apple, water melon, and pineapple. Bananas gave the best results, increasing the number of white blood cells, enhancing immunity and producing anti-cancer TNF. A professor involved in the study was quoted as saying that a banana with dark spots is 8 times more effective in increasing white blood cells than a green skin banana.

So we Type Os should be eating ripe bananas with dark spots, right? Not so fast.

Green bananas could have benefits for dieters and diabetics.

Dieters are sometimes told to stay away from bananas because they are starchy, but the type of starch in green bananas is resistant starch. Rather than being broken down during digestion, resistant starches pass through the intestines unchanged. This gives them the characteristics of insoluble fiber. Foods with resistant starch increase the feeling of satisfaction and being full. This may reduce calorie consumption.

Foods containing resistant starch increase insulin sensitivity. This may help people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugars more effectively.

Resistant starch also benefits friendly, probiotic bacteria. As the good bacteria in your intestines ferment resistant starch to make energy, they decrease the level of bad bacteria in your intestines. Bad bacteria can cause several problems from diarrhea to chronic colon conditions. When resistant starch is fermented it produces short-chain fatty acids which improve colon health and may reduce the risk of colon cancer. The same short-chain fatty acids increases the body's ability to absorb calcium.

Dr. D says bananas are beneficial for Type Os. I buy them green, and think about how good the resistant starch is for me. As they ripen, I'm happy because I'm getting more TNF. I win either way with bananas.