When is the last time you felt useful? I don’t mean just at work either. I’m not talking about nailing something at work that increases profits. I’m talking about real human connection here – doing something that makes you feel like you are making a positive contribution to someone’s life. Maybe that you’re even making a difference in the world in some small way. Real human connection that gives you the warm and fuzzies.

Now we can’t all be Mother Theresa, and trying to solve the issues in the Middle East is far beyond the capabilities of most of us, so I’m not suggesting you should go out and attempt to solve all the world’s problems. But doing something solely for the benefit of someone other than ourselves every once in awhile can only be a positive thing. Knowing what we’re naturally good at can go a long way towards figuring out how to put it to use, and technology like ph360 or the soon to be released Shae^TM can let you know what that is.

Not only does a sense of ability and usefulness increase self-esteem and reduce the risk of depression, but there is a broad underlying construct of general social well-being when someone can feel like they have an integral role in a group. It comes down to a sense of belonging. Feeling useful increases the sense of social connectedness which has been related to many effects on positive health, including:

• The engagement of healthy behaviors (ie: avoidance of smoking and a sedentary lifestyle). The more you feel like an important   part of a group, like a family or friends, the more likely you are to want to take better care of your health.
• Improved physiological resilience (ie: better muscle tone and ability to heal).
• Emotional stability (ie: positive coping mechanisms and stress management). The more time we spend with people we care       about, the more emotionally engaged we are outside our own headspace.
• Longer maintenance of mental acuity (ie: mental engagement, memory and cognitive functions). Spending time with people     and feeling useful keeps our brains ticking and you know what they say when it comes to cognitive function – use it or lose it!

Figuring out what’s best for you right now is the key to getting heathy and technology like ph360 or the soon to be released Shae^TM make it effortless. Getting into the positive habit of prioritising time with friends and family now will pay off long term and is a big part of staying healthy. Building those connections and making yourself useful where possible could just help you to live longer.

When everyone else is reaching for a night cap, cappuccino, or other beverage involving caffeine and alcohol, do you ever wonder what a post-meal drink that was actually good for you might look and taste like? We’re here to introduce you to the perfect after dinner (or breakfast or lunch!) beverage that will aid your digestion, support your immune system, and help balance your blood sugar: The Lemon Celery Aloe Vera Cinnamon Soother

Simply blend a cup of water with a teaspoon or two of fresh lemon juice, a four-inch stick of celery, chopped, a tablespoon or two of aloe vera juice, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Blend until completely smooth, and enjoy while reading about the health benefits of each ingredient!

• Lemon. Lemon juice is both detoxifying, digestion aiding, and immune building. Citrus flavonoids support the digestive function of hydrochloric acid, while also stimulating and purifying the liver. Lemon’s high vitamin C content helps to eliminate free radicals from the body, effectively boosting your immune system. Major full-body win!
• Celery. Celery is one of nature’s greatest sources of insoluble fiber, which expedites the passage of food through the digestive system. Translation: Your bowel movements will be easier and more regular.
• Aloe Vera. Aloe vera is another full-body treasure chest. Aloe soothes the skin and internal organs, and has a laxative effect on the digestive tract. Aloe has also been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, and to improve heart health. Yes, please!
• Cinnamon. Cinnamon aids digestion while also helping to balance blood sugar (potentially even for those with Type 2 diabetes). It imparts a sweet, soothing taste to this drink that will curb your cravings for refined sugar even as it lowers LDL cholesterol and creates an antifungal environment in your body.

Try out this delicious after dinner beverage as above—or with similar foods that work for you—and invite your friends to join you. You’ll send them home glowing!

Is your diet slowly killing you?

Chronic disease and obesity are becoming the norm in the western world, largely due to poor diet choices. But eating what isn’t best for us isn’t entirely our fault as the medical profession and the media have been giving us the wrong advice for years.

When I was 36 I was diagnosed with endometriosis. Like many health professionals (I’m a trained nurse) I believed that getting endometriosis was down to the genes I’d inherited. I believed I ate a healthy diet. I was eating plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit, whole grain bread instead of white and I didn’t eat much processed or junk foods.

How wrong was I!

Genes are not your Destiny

Did you know that 90-95% of your genes can be changed by what you eat?

Every cell in your body contains about 25,000 to 35,000 genes. The majority of your genes contain a switch that can be either on or off. These switches determine your health. For optimal health you want the right combination of on and off for you at any one time. Which switches are on and which off changes constantly in reaction to your environment. This is how epigenetics works and one of the biggest influencers is what you eat.

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to health and diet.

The epigenetic effect on our genes means no 2 people are the same, even identical twins. Yet many health professionals are still advising us all to eat the same things. It could be argued that they are being negligent in doing so. What you need is a health program tailored to your own unique body needs and this is available from a revolutionary personalised health program called ph360.

The science and research behind ph360’s personalized health app knows from your individual biotrend, health history and ancestry what foods are right for you at any one time. It knows that what’s good for you, is not necessarily good for me. Broccoli is a good example. It’s been widely celebrated as a must eat superfood. Broccoli has some great properties that will have a positive effect on the health of a lot of people, yet for 6% of the population it will have a detrimental effect on their health. The research also shows that climate changes how we react to food. For example I live in cold wet England, but my body prefers to be hot and dry. This means bananas are not good for me during the winter months as they cool my body down, but during the summer, or if I’m holidaying in Mexico I’m ok to eat them frequently.

Knowing exactly what foods are best for YOU, how to prepare them right now and what to avoid is the best way to switch your genes in the right direction for optimal health, but here are a few tips that are true for everyone:

• Cut out or at least reduce processed foods, sugar and artificial sweeteners, and hydrogenated vegetable oils
• Avoid GMO’s
• Eat organic as much as possible

It took me 20 years of trial and error to work out what my body needs for optimal health and I still didn’t have all the answers. But thanks to ph360 you can find out in less than one hour.  Using ph360 I’m now healthier than I’ve been the whole of my adult life. I want you to feel equally as healthy. I recommend ph360 as it’s backed by decades of research and provides different recommendations for each of its users.

Eating the right foods that contain the nutrition that your body requires is not really a choice. It’s actually essential for you to avoid disease and to live a long and healthy life.

That thing you said or didn’t say at dinner a few weeks ago that you regret… it’s time to forgive yourself for it. That thing you did 3 years ago that you keep reminding yourself should’ve gone differently… it’s time to forgive yourself for it. And that time you let yourself down 10 years ago… it’s time to forgive yourself for that too.

Why is it time? Because regret, guilt, and shame are forms of self-punishment. They keep you locked in a mental prison of self-torment, reliving the past when you ought to be moving towards a bright, beautiful future. And I know that you don’t really want to keep living in that self-inflicted prison; you just forgot that there was a way out. And that way out is self-forgiveness. Here are 5 steps you can take toward self-forgiveness right now:

1. Acknowledge and take responsibility for what you said or did.
Step into the truth of what happened. Acknowledge the negative emotions (guilt, regret, and perhaps shame) that this event elicits in you. When you blame outside people or events for something you said or did, it becomes difficult to move forward to a space of healing. When you take responsibility, the course of how things unfold suddenly rests in your hands. If you feel you wronged, you can now make it right. And although it is initially far more difficult to admit a fault or mistake in ourselves (hence why so many people resort to denial and/or blame), it is far more burdensome to carry denial, blame, hatred, and judgment in the long run. So find your inner strength, gather your sense of self, and take responsibility. This may mean you verbally express accountability to someone else but more likely it is a conversation you have with yourself. Once you’ve done so, move quickly on to Step 2. While it’s good to allow the past to resurface for a moment, there’s no need to dwell there.

2. Invite self-love in.
Now that you’ve taken the truthful and brave step of acknowledging what happened and the negative emotions you have around it, you can step onto the express train to healing. This train has only one stop: Self-Love Street. This stop asks that you recognize that you were doing the best you could at the time. It asks you to acknowledge that you are human after all. That we all make mistakes. It asks that you take a tender, loving approach with yourself and treat yourself as you would a close friend or someone you love. It invites you to set yourself free from regret, shame, and blame. It invites you to open up to love, kindness, and compassion. It invites you to move forward in your life, to rediscover inner peace, and to leave the past where it belongs – in the past. While on Self-Love Street, you may even consider writing yourself a letter in which you acknowledge what happened, tell yourself that it’s okay, that this situation doesn’t diminish the wonderful person that you are, that you forgive yourself, and that you love you anyway. The most important relationship you have in this life is that between you and you, and self-forgiveness is how you nourish it.

3. Identify the underlying desire that you were trying to fulfill.
Every word we utter and every action we undertake is done to fulfill a purpose, whether we are consciously aware of it or not. Oftentimes, when we act in disharmony with our morals, values, and beliefs, it is because there is some underlying need that wants to be fulfilled. Take a moment to think about what the driving force behind your words and/or actions that you now regret might have been? Were you seeking approval of others? Did you want to feel better about yourself in the moment? Were you trying to get back at someone? Were you wanting to feel more safe or comfortable in the situation? Whatever it is, know that it’s okay. We all have deep needs that we wish to be fulfilled in this life, and by identifying and getting to know them, we give them the opportunity to be fulfilled in adaptive and healthy ways rather than sneaking up on us through a word or action we might later regret.

4. Identify what you really want to experience in life.
As much as earning approval from others, getting back at others, or feeling better about ourselves at the expense of others may make us feel temporarily better, in the long term it causes regret, sadness, and dissatisfaction. So pause and ask yourself “what is the experience I’m really going for in life?” “How do I really want to feel day in and day out?” Often, what we really want to feel is unconditionally loved, appreciated, and accepted. What we really want is to be understood and supported in being who we are. Once you recognize your real-life desires (unconditional love, warmth, appreciation, etc), you’ll be able to spot the imposters (conditional love, approval, superiority, revenge, etc) much more easily and readily when they appear.

5. Commit to being more of the person you really want to be, guided by self-love.
Now that you’ve recognized the difference between the desires that elicit words and actions that you may later regret and those that fuel the essence of who you are, it’s time to commit to being the person you really want to be – one who always does their best in the moment, one who understands that every facet of life, including themselves, is an imperfect work in progress, one who practices self-forgiveness and self-love in any given moment, and one who can therefore approach everyone around them with a kind, compassionate, forgiving heart that is open to, and receptive of, the healing power of unconditional love.

If you want to be happy, you’ve got to be free, and if you want to be free, you’ve got to practice self-forgiveness. To forgive is to love. So go on… love yourself. And see the magical transformation that ensues.