The Healthy Bee

Healthy lifestyles can be considered quaint when we have new chemical plants making highly expensive new cures, sometimes for maladies not worth the effort. And the discovery that honey will cure a burn up to four days faster than the most powerful new cures for burns.

So, using honey on a burn as the most effective is the tip of the iceberg of healthy lifestyles. It is your entire approach to life: how much you respect and love your inner being to care deeply and gently for you.

When it comes to scientific thinking before science there are surprises. Now even centuries after Egypt had faded as the power and the center of the civilized world, some of their knowledge knew better than we.

But in the past centuries when tombs were uncovered it was found that amidst all the dust and crumbling heirlooms, sealed jars of honey were found. When tasted and tested the honey still tasted and tested as fresh after having been sealed for thousands of years.

And since then we have imported gun powder from the east and built empires everywhere that have come and gone as have the tides of Canute.

And grand advisers and wise men have made their fortunes finding new potions that would cure many matters that ail us. And through history one constant issue is burns to the body whether by poor housing and candles, or mobs with torches.

So many potions have been devised over the centuries to deal with injuries and burns, and any study of evolving science shows this. Almost with hilarity from a century ago were the many remedies that often contained opium as well as horse manure.

Now a study comes to us that suggest that antique science books may have had it right before we got to this century with all our brilliant science bringing us sterile modern gauze, and antibiotic creams with exceptional new high power capacities to heal? Surely.

Well, wrong. In a review of 15 studies, New Zealand researchers found that burned skin covered with honey healed as much as four days faster than skin treated with antibiotic creams and sterile wound dressings.

Lead study author P.C. Molan, Ph.D says honey is ideal because it rapidly soothes the pain, promotes healing, and prevents further damages.

The next burn in your family deserves that you cool the skin with cold water and then spread ample honey on some clean gauze and apply it to the burn. Change the dressing twice a day. And if it is more severe, of course, see your doctor. If you lived in ancient Egypt, this knowledge was available at your local wise man, even if he might have killed you in some other remedy.

I also put honey in my tea, as one way to get some of the healing power inside as well. Solid honey has more anti oxidants, and could be melted down easily for application, although liquid honey would be quicker in an emergency. Best to keep some of both around for the security of your healthy lifestyles. Here’s to your good health.



By: Derek Dashwood

About the Author:

I had mentioned that my oldest daughter, so sweet and adorable, was a fussy eater, and yet after much play and zooming the airplane spoon past her mouth, with my mouth open, we got a meal down, effort by effort. I treasure the memories to get healthy lifestyles into her as an early habit.

And if like me, you found out that finally some years later, if you kept at through every rebellion and growth spurt and houseful of attitude, there will come a moment. You hear your child lecturing her friends about the junk they put into their bodies.

And you notice she looks more radiant and wholesome and healthy than they do, and you smile deeply and imagine how well based she is. Her healthy lifestyles are now better than yours, forty years later, and she rem And all those airplane trips from plate to mouth around mount Dad pay off. Well done. And they even all love you.

Good examples must be lived, not just lectured from a pulpit. And wonderful to realize that some of what you hear your kids say as if it is their original thought- and to them it is- something that decades earlier they had said yeah, yeah, dad, you do not know, things are different now.

Timeless values are eternal, and the more we get to our most healthy roots, the better. Spinach roots, cabbage roots, carrot roots, beet roots. Back to our roots, the wisdom of the ages, is in every spoon that goes into your Shirley Temple.

Let’s see all our good ship lollipops have plenty of fruits and veggies aboard, and we make whatever silly actions necessary to grow our kids naturally, to whatever they may naturally best become. Enjoy the journey! I am drawn to how the ancient stories can be adapted to now, and I enjoy making appropriate to the moment some age old story.

Rare children’s books tell these stories, all the way back to Dr. Seuss, my modern favorite. But then when wise King Phillip of Macedonia called Aristotle to meet and promise to teach his newborn son Alexander right from wrong, and love from hated, and wise contemplation rather than rash actions, and the deep questions he had recently discussed with legendary Socrates. So, from some time past, wise tutors have been out there, defining right for wrong. And so we should continue, whether we will wear ourselves out early with the massive energy needed to be Great.

Or, like most, with less fever, we can apply ourselves to at least be good and just. As Socrates told Aristotle, and he told Alexander, and, as you may have heard, his horse told me. America has more followed the gentle teaching of those Greek values.

Europe has tended to be like Rome and cane them into being better, more loving persons. Gentle understanding and deep reaches into the soul to understand that a life lived well and in fairness to others more likely ensures a better death and afterlife. No cane allowed, but you must be able. Sigh.

But when our little angels do well, you must remember to give rave attention to appropriate behavior. A great report card may deserve an update to the computer, and let your brainy hero have a budget, and see what she or he discovers. It will not break the bank, but it is a very effective way to have that brain studying away, and you are not giving a bribe- remember that always. You are rewarding great behavior, which makes more great behavior likely.

In contrast, if we gave a murderer a reward, we are mad; although we do that all the time. Best sellers by wrong doers should at least have the money go to the poor and the writer go to jail. Right the wrong. Our kids understand those issues while we over complicate even basic right from wrong.

Let us listen to that innocent loving child within, and by staying in touch with our children and then our grandchildren we can ensure we stay involved in helping the moral center stays in place as issues come and go.

And later you get to fondly recall with fondness all those efforts to eat a healthy lifestyles for all of us to set the good examples. And if you this so consistently, your grown daughters buy organic and fear you may not get it and you have to agree that may be so, compared to them.



By: Derek Dashwood

About the Author:

You might have a vague idea that eating right and exercising regularly are good things, but have difficulty making that leap towards actually doing something about your health. If you need some real, concrete reasons while you must start pursing a healthy lifestyle starting today, just take a look at these completely true benefits of being healthy.

1. Bone Density

After age thirty or so, you very slowly, over time start to lose bone density. This process can lead to brittle bones and osteoporosis. The more load bearing exercise you perform before age thirty, the stronger your bones will be. And performing load-bearing exercise later in life will help maintain bone density. Load bearing exercises can be things like weight lifting, jogging, and stair climbing.

2. Improved Mood

You may think that ice cream and pizza and playing a lot of video games make you happy, but it doesn’t even compare to the kind of contentment you experience when you are physically fit. Firstly, the exercise itself feels wonderful. When you exercise, your body produces a morphine like hormone called endorphins. The endorphins make the exerciser feel contented, focused, and stress free. The mood benefits of a fit lifestyle get better over time. Some studies on patients who suffer from depression show that regular exercise can even be as effective as anti-depressants in treating depression.

3. Reduce the risk of several diseases

There is nothing really pleasant about suffering from heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. A major illness can throw your life upside down, and affect your relationship with your loved ones and how you enjoy your favorite hobbies. Pursuing a healthy lifestyle can prevent these and other chronic diseases from ever forming. When you eat right and get active, you activate your immune system and lower your cholesterol. You will have fewer sick days in your life and have more time to do what you enjoy doing.

4. You will look great

There are few things more satisfying than looking in the mirror and being proud of what you see. It’s a wonderful feeling, but it can only really be accomplished through a healthy diet and regular exercise. Looking great will also lead to feeling great, which will then lead to you pursing your work, home life, and hobbies with more zest and confidence. Even a slight improvement in your appearance can raise your self-esteem to heights you may have never experienced before.

5. You will be smarter

There is lots of new evidence that is proving that the commonly held belief that the world is divided between nerds and jocks is completely unfounded. In fact, some traditionally jock-like behavior can even make your smarter. In 2004 the University of Illinois released the findings of a two-year study on the connection between physical activity and test scores. One of the professors says the study revealed that there is a “strong relationship between academic achievement and fitness scores.” So if you feel like you could use a better memory, stronger concentration, and a more powerful cognitive ability, you should definitely be spending more time outside being active.



By: Chris McCombs

About the Author:

In a perfect world we would all be eating the right food, exercising, sleeping well and just generally enjoying life.

In the real world most of us manage a percentage of the healthy lifestyle and muddle through as best we can with the rest of it. Part of the problem is we are encouraged to think, mostly by the media, that we should be doing everything possible towards a healthy lifestyle, all of the time. For most of us this is just not possible.

Constant concern about what we should or shouldn’t be doing causes our stress levels to go up and that negates any good work that we’ve done. Yes, we should certainly try for a healthy lifestyle, but the two key words are “moderation” and “balance” By applying these criteria to achieving a healthy lifestyle we won’t be beating ourselves up for failing another diet or dropping out of the latest exercise regime.

A common mistake that many people make when they decide to adopt a healthy lifestyle is to try to do too much too soon. They then give themselves a guilt complex when it all falls apart. It is also easy to be influenced by others, when we should only be adopting a healthy lifestyle plan to suit ourselves.

Ah! Did I say lifestyle plan? Do you have one, or do you just try the next thing that is in your magazine or Sunday supplement? By all means read these articles and take them into account as you plan how you want your healthy lifestyle to take shape.

Leading a healthy lifestyle doesn’t mean you have got to run a mile before breakfast, eat seeds and think pure thoughts. Great if that’s what you want, but for most of us “healthy” means being in reasonable shape, eating our fruit and vegetables and generally having a feeling of vitality.

Decide on your definition of a healthy lifestyle, and then plan a strategy that works for you.

As part of my health plan I decided I wanted to walk in the mornings before breakfast, but there was no way I wanted to get up at the crack of dawn to do it. So I planned a ten minute circuit that includes a short flight of steps and a not too steep incline. I power walked that route every day and felt really good. Sure l wouldn’t make the City to Surf marathon, but I compromised and made it work for me.

Today, much is made of organic foods, but the reality is that organic food is generally more expensive and well out of the range for most budgets. Yes organic is probably the best option, but it doesn’t mean that if you’re not eating all organic you are not eating right. If you’re concerned about general produce, be a bit discerning when you shop. Look for fruit and vegetables that are fresh and unblemished. You should also buy product brands that you can trust. If you shop wisely, you can have a well-balanced healthy diet that won’t break the bank.

Basically living a healthy life means looking at your lifestyle as a whole, it is not just about diet and exercise. It is not always necessary to make major changes. Most people know their weak spots, and are happy if they can make a few changes that show results.

A friend of mine was drinking several cans of soft drink a day. She was feeling tired and generally under the weather. When I read an article about the health risk of soft drink I copied it and gave it to her, whereupon she decided to give up the soft drink there and then. A week later she got back to me and said she couldn’t believe the difference, her energy levels were up and she was feeling great. Just that one change was able to make a difference and she feels good about the healthy choice.

Sleep and leisure time play a big part in a healthy lifestyle, and for the most part people underestimate the value of good sleep. Our bodies aren’t designed to operate at peak performance twenty four hours a day. Anyone in industry knows that machines that have to work continuously need a lot of maintenance. When we are sleeping our body is healing and regenerating itself and we should wake up feeling refreshed and revitalized.

We can go without sleep for extended periods, but we can’t do it indefinitely. The amount of sleep an individual needs varies a great deal, and there is no such thing as the right time to sleep. Obviously most people sleep at night, but if you are one of those folk that comes alive in the small hours, you might need to catch up with your sleep during the day.

A big part of healthy living is being comfortable with yourself. Don’t be pressured into trying to attain a certain look, or push yourself down a career path you are not suited to. Constant worry about what you are doing will only have the opposite effect on your health. Don’t get paranoid about your diet, about what toothpaste you should use or about expensive exercise equipment you need to buy.

Allow a common sense approach to dictate when you are making lifestyle choices, and remember, there is nothing wrong with compromise if it means your healthy lifestyle plan will work for you.



By: Trish Powell

About the Author:

The New Year is here and already two weeks has passed you by. You swore to yourself that this year would be different. You even got a gym membership and everything. So, why are you still procrastinating? For most people, it is the thought of sweating away all their time on a treadmill that keeps them from starting. What makes the difference for people who can not seem to get enough exercise to achieve a Heallthy Lifestyle?

In order to lead a healthy lifestyle, you have to have a love for exercise. Or, at least a like for it. If exercise is not in your heart, trick yourself so that it is! You can not move toward your goals without a willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve them…and getting started is the most difficult task to overcome. You may not want to do it, but nine times out of ten when a person just gets going, they want to continue.

Here are 4 proven ways to trick yourself into thinking exercise is something you love.

How To Love Exercise Trick #1: Get The Right Nutrition

How is this going to trick myself, you ask? Well, what happens when you provide your body with the right nutrition? You feel healthier and more energetic. This energy usually calls out to you to hit the gym, or even a simple walk around the block without you even knowing it. When you eat poorly, you feel like sitting on the couch and eating even more junk food.

Proper nutrition for me is a soy-based protein drink every morning along with a cup of hot green tea. This gives me nutrition and energy I need to get me through the day without ever even thinking about taking a nap. What’s even better is that green tea has been known to increase metabolism, so the more I drink the more I shrink. (width wise, not length!)

How To Love Exercise Trick #2: Baby Steps

Ease into exercise. Do not start out with a bang or you will burn out just as fast as you started. Take a laid back approach to exercise at first. Make small goals and achieve them every single day. If you have never been a runner but would like to begin, do not try to run 5 miles a day. Start with a half mile and increase it by a half mile each week.

So many people quit exercising after only a week because they over exert themselves and drain too much energy in too little time. Stretch properly to avoid muscle soreness and by all means drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated. This little trick of taking baby steps into an exercise program will allow you to enjoy the journey you are taking to good health.

How To Love Exercise Trick #3: Join A Class

Being around others who want to achieve the same goals as yourself will take the edge off your worries about exercise being too much work and not enough fun. Exercise is what you make of it. If you want it fun, make it fun. Think beyond the treadmill and stationary bicycle, and do not worry about the abilities of others. Focus on improving only yourself.

There are many classes that offer activities other than typical exercise that will give you the same benefits. You do not have to run like a hamster for an hour to get a great workout. Remember dancing? How about karate? Even joining a bowling league is more active that sitting on the couch. Just remember to choose a lane far away from the vending machine!

How To Love Exercise Trick #4: Listen To Music Or Watch TV

If you are the type of person who likes to exercise alone but can not seem to get yourself motivated to do so, purchase an IPOD shuffle and download your favorite music to accompany you. There is no better driving force than keeping yourself entertained while you exercise. Your mind will not be focused on the “work” of your work-out, and you will trick yourself into passing the time enjoying yourself without the boredom of silence.

If you can not tear yourself away from your television set, there is no reason you can not exercise during prime time. Gyms are equipped with TV sets, and they will usually let you choose the station you want. Set yourself up for a half hour of treadmill walking or stationary bike riding. The trick here is that you will be so into your tv show you will probably forget you are exercising.

The more you exercise, the less it will become a chore and the more you will love it. Exercise is the only proven “healthy habit,” meaning that is can become addictive so that you will never want to miss a day without it. In order to lead a healthy lifestyle, you must develop the mindset of a person who thinks this way. For some people it comes naturally. If you are someone who sonsiders exercise too much work and not enough play, follow the steps listed about to trick yourself into changing your way of thinking.



By: William Winch

About the Author:

To live healthy lifestyles we are learning again the wisdom of the One Hundred Mile Rule: if a natural food product is grown within this range from you, and to your plate, the healthier you.

And yet you and we know there are exceptions to every rule. And we delight in this example from healthy lifestyles books between Ben and Frank. Because, these two friends had a strong honest interest in the historical merit. They were also up to creating, as well as reading, more healthy lifestyles.

Dr.Franklin and Sir Francis were co authors of antique books. They also worked on adaptations to the Franklin stove more adapted to the damp moist weather of England. His superior officer in London in 1760 was Sir Francis, Post Master General of the British Empire.

North America Benjamin Franklin reported to his English Superior Officer Frank: they hit it off immediately, and Ben spent many happy months at the Estate of Sir Francis. And it was here Ben discovered oats. He and Sir Francis found their mutual enjoyment of oatmeal.

They agreed how energizing it was, and Dr. Franklin discreetly mentioned that these prize Scottish oats did not yet grow in America. So you can today read in science books that Sir Francis and Dr. Franklin soon were out in the barn.

And on his return to America Dr Franklin was in receipt of 2-3 sacks of prize Scottish oats, which he sent out to all science minded friends who would grow it from cold Boston to hot Savannah to confirm it did best in the north, as in Scotland.

Which is why you see wonderful Dr. Franklin on the cover of a certain oat product. Sir Francis, really, should be smiling next to Ben, handing him the sacks.

Now, we see examples such as the Neem tree, an organic herbal remedy and natural pest repellent, is now proving itself as a curative and health restorative, under western microscopes, now accepted.

And the more we can find and bring over to us healthful or food bearing plants, we are now making that happen, As long as we keep searching, and have learned much since then.

Natural living has shown our ways. We could adapt what China has been able to do, and urge ever northward tender foods such as the Changsha Mandarin orange, which now grows amidst frost in Manchuria.

We do know that warmer foods are being grown further north than in recorded memory. And, if we can keep the ocean from causing us to trade in our lovely new auto for a gondola to make it to work, that will complicate our lives more than we need.

Perhaps we can adapt that impossible song that foretold what came to be: First we take the Neem Tree to Manhattan, then we take the Mandarin.

Let’s keep our observations clear, our orientation to our evolving situation wise, our decision based on all the best knowledge, and our decision to act then must self kick into gear. It is in our hands now.



By: Derek Dashwood

About the Author:

Healthy lifestyles were a challenge during the lifetime of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). Events that unfolded during these years created general boundaries for the modern world new and old. By then a fellow citizen of what would become Italy had opened up a new world, while Leonardo was some times forced to move to Avignon in France while armies of Florence fought off Venice who fought them all off. In fact in one of these flights for a more healthy lifestyle than dying, he brought along a painting, which he offered the King of France, who was also one of several Popes at that time, safe harbor.

So we should all stop our frowns that the Mona Lisa was war booty by some Napoleon, who did take much from many. But the Mona Lisa, we now learn, was as payment for several years protective custody, where he lived in secure luxury and created much. So, dear France, I take back my fierce glance: your Mona is yours, as if payment to Rome, for healthy lifestyles to Leonardo, until a nicer Borgia said it you can come home.

And my leap to the present is to touch on the point, about how Leonardo would discover a body in it’s complete sense, including doing autopsies to peel away a dead corpse of a human, skin through muscle to organs and bone. He did this once at an old home when he asked questions of a man in his nineties some of his ways. The gentle man talked as our wisdom today, he was poor but he counted his blessings. He tried to be kind and thoughtful to others. He could savor the joys of his long life during famines and plagues. He thanked everyone, was a forgiving soul. He was still close to his family, and he ate well, and walked. He was careful to not fall, as he saw many people end this way.

And then he died. Leonardo was so overwhelmed he requested, and was allowed to do a complete autopsy of this wonderful man. He found a body still inside so unusually young, while he had lived through so much.

So we do know that Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa as his inner eye saw her. He created her skeletal structure, and then filled in the organs and over them the layers of muscle. And over those layers he pulled on her skin, and popped in her eyes, and worked on her smile. There are many layers of muscle under that skin and those lips, and that is one of the magic of her eyes as well. They are rounded with layers, as people can see, that when you walk right to left, her eyes follow you. And her smile changes too. That is Leonardo for you.

My wonderful large book on Leonardo, I have mentioned before, was given to me by a wonderful man named John. He had been a navigator during World War Two, and his caution for air flack had him one of the few to have flown so many missions and made it back each time. They were usually the last to arrive, and always the other half of the mission to make it back had landed earlier, and had the best seats at the bar.

The other pilots, while mourning those did not return, could always tease the pilot of John’s aircraft, late again. But as always, John had kept them alive, and was evading killer fighters and every shooting site he could see. And if he had to zig zag them from Bavaria to Denmark he was taking them home in their same skin. But they were not heroes, as they were not first. But they did still survive, still were alive. Some times it is wise not to rush, but observe. Then orient yourself, decide, and then act on your nerve.



By: Derek Dashwood

About the Author: