Zinc is a much overlooked mineral, but it is one that is very easy to become deficient in. Zinc plays a very important role in immunity, vision, reproduction and skin health. Zinc may be related to acne, and is required along with essential fatty acids to convert cholesterol into sex hormones. We require 15mg of zinc per day just to preform basic tasks in the body (Canadian values recommend 8 for women and 11mg for men). This is a bare minimum and not enough for optimal health.
        Signs that you are not receiving enough zinc could be poor wound healing, poor digestion, and low immune function. Zinc may help to reduce symptoms of the common cold, but preventatively taking zinc is a better idea. Oysters are the highest nutritional source of zinc at 100mg/100g servings. Most of our dietary source of zinc is found in beef , but the amount is much lower, just over 9mg of zinc per 100g of beef.
     Most people will likely benefit from adding zinc to their supplement routine. While there is some in plant sources, it is very difficult to ensure that we are meeting our requirements. Zinc is used topically to treat skin issues as well. Check your multivitamin, a quality vitamin can contain up to 15mg a day. Here's one of my faves: https://progressivenutritional.com/active-women/ Happy healing :)

I was recently introduced to the Isagenix line of nutritional supplements, and they promote a cleansing product. I went to an event, listened to their spiel and thought their online video about environmental contaminants and detoxification was quite interesting and logical.Check out the video here. While I was chatting with a client about the product she lent me a book, written by a friends husband (John Molot MD). It is called 12,000 Canaries Can't Be Wrong, and is by a doctor from Ontario who noticed many of his clients had similar unexplainable symptoms, which were often determined to be caused from sensitivity to environmental pollutants/contaminants. He started to specialize in this area of practice due to the alarming number of cases he was seeing on a regular basis. I've been making notes on interesting tidbits of information, so read on and lean. This was a scary and awakening read for me, and I'm not yet through the book.

• Once you are diagnosed with a chronic illness you are likely to get another
• Environmental Medicine: the treatment, recognition, and prevention of illness induced by exposure to biological and chemical agents encountered in food and water
• The core medical treatment is to improve the environment and the sick individuals relationship to the environment
• 80% of Dr. Molots patients were women aged 30-65 with no biological markers to aid in diagnosis. They had multiple symptoms in multiple systems
• Many patients felt significantly better after trying elimination diets
• Symptoms include: physical/mental fatigue, chronic pain, respiratory issues, GI issues, rash, allergies, and food/chemical sensitivity (ie perfume, make-up, cleaning product)
• Sick Building Syndrome: a medical term for a poorly ventilated building which may have mold or poor air exchange, or gases in the building. It causes acute health problems for those spending time in the building including fatigue, nausea, dizziness, and dry mucous membranes. People suffering from Sick Building Syndrome feel better when they are allowed to work from home or a different location.
• Psycho-neuroimmunology: the study of communication between the brain and the nervous system. Higher amounts of pollution in cities are directly related to higher amounts of Parkinsons/Alzheimers, chrronic allergies, endometriosis and lupus
• There are higher amounts of deaths and hospital admissions on days with poor air quality
• Since the Second World War more than 80,000 new synthetic chemicals have been manufactured and released into the environment
• More than 1 500 new chemicals are released each year and there is not adequate long term testing on the health of humans or health of developing fetus'
• 7.1 trillion pounds of chemicals are imported each year to the USA
• POP stands for Persistant Organic Chemicals which bioaccumulate and can be absorbed into living organisms and accumulate in fat cells. They can be transported across the world through the air or water.

Twice in the last two weeks I had that sore throat, swollen glands, tired and achey feeling. I simply cannot afford to be sick over the next couple weeks with my competition coming up. With the change of seasons coming, I thought I would share some of my secrets. Theres no evidence that any of this works, but I like my regime and I'm sticking to it! I always take 2 fish oil capsules, at least 1000IU of vitamin D, and occasionally a liquid iron (I was pretty iron deficient last time I checked). When I feel a scratchy throat, I start taking oil of oregano (which can deplete iron), and extra vitamin C to boost immunity.  Unfortunatly, I have to admit that there isn't much scientific evidence that the oil of oregano or iron actually benefit the immune system, and I'm sure we get enough C from food, I still think it works for me.
One supplement I swear by is VegeGreens by Progressive. While this powder doesn't taste great, it is pretty good in a shake. It is full of phytochemicals, fatty acids, sea and land vegetables, and enzymes. http://www.progressivenutritional.com/#/women-vegegreens-ingredients 
Above is a list of ingredients. I do not believe you can get all of these nutrients from foods, and I feel like I can use all the nutrients I can get when dieting. I usually eat waaay more veggies and fruits than I am at the moment.
The most important aspect in getting well is of course sleep and rest! I drink a lot of fluids, hot and sour soup and kimchi from OJA, and lots of time in the sauna and hot shower. Keep well my friends, exercise on a regular, and keep stress levels down, the frequencies of y

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our illness will go down!

Here's a recipe for a shake I have been making. Its sweet and low carb and tasty. I don't have protein powder after every workout, but lately I've been trying a shake a day, just to get my nutrients and satisfy my sweet tooth, while varying my protein intake. Ive had to cut out cottage cheese due to bloating, and cant wait to bring it back to my diet, so this is what I have turned to:
2-3 frozen or fresh strawberries
1/2 scoop vegegreens
1 scoop vanilla protein
1 tsp matcha powder
1/2-1 cup water, plus ice
2 tbsp oat bran