Not All Antioxidants Are Vitamins

By Al Sears, MD

In Message #1848, I told you about the "all-star" vitamins - A and E - that double as powerful antioxidants. But some of the most effective antioxidants are not classified as vitamins. Here are two of those powerhouse disease fighters:

Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA)

ALA, discovered in 1951, plays a vital part in the production of cellular energy. It has been dubbed the "Universal Antioxidant" because of its ability to fight free radicals in both the fatty and water areas of cells. It lowers the risk of atherosclerosis, lung disease, and neurological disorders by fighting the specific free radicals that contribute to these afflictions. And it recycles and extends the life of other antioxidants, like vitamins C, E, and CoQ10.

A good source of ALA is red meat. I recommend supplementing with 100 mg of ALA daily.

Coenzyme Q10

CoQ10, which is produced naturally in the body, is crucial in the creation of the energy that cells require to exist. It has also been found to destroy free radicals in cell membranes, prevent arteriosclerosis by protecting against the accumulation of oxidized fat in blood vessels, and successfully treat heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

CoQ10 is found in fish, red meat, and organ meats (especially beef liver, kidney, and heart). I recommend supplementing with 30 mg of CoQ10 daily.

__________________________________________________
This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #1850, 10-03-06], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1."

-Warren Buffett

Fighting Free Radicals

By Al Sears, MD

Free radicals occur naturally in the body (as a byproduct of the metabolism process) and work to neutralize viruses and bacteria. But pollution, radiation, and cigarette smoke can also spawn free radicals. And if free radical production becomes excessive, it can destroy cells ... which leads to accelerated aging and disease. That's why you need to supplement with antioxidants, your body's free radical fighters.

Along with a multivitamin, I advise my patients to take additional doses of the following two antioxidants:

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is in a family of compounds called carotenoids. Best known for aiding in good eyesight, this vitamin does much more.

• Vitamin A prevents night blindness by preventing free radical damage in the eye.

• It acts as a powerful free radical scavenger in fat-soluble tissues.

• It lowers the risk of macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in the elderly.

• It decreases the risks of lung and breast cancer by supporting the immune system.

• It maximizes skin health by playing a key role in the integumentary system.

Vitamin A is found naturally in meat, milk, eggs, liver, carrots, and spinach. I recommend supplementing with 2,500 IUs per day.

Vitamin E

"Vitamin E" is actually a generic term for a group of eight compounds - four types of tocopherols and four types of tocotrienols. In their separate forms, these compounds work differently in the body. (Some tocotrienols, for example, are best absorbed by the skin.)

• Vitamin E fights free radicals that cause diseases of inflammation (such as rheumatoid arthritis).

• It lowers the risk of heart disease by increasing blood circulation.

• It lowers the risk of cancers in the prostate, colon, and breast.

It's important to note that too much of one type of tocopherol in the body can stop the absorption of the others. So read the label before you buy. A good mix of all four tocopherols and all four tocotrienols is your best bet. I recommend supplementing with 400 IUs of Vitamin E a day.

Both Vitamin A and Vitamin E are oil soluble and should be taken in gel-cap form. For best absorption, take them with a teaspoon of flaxseed oil or peanut butter or during a meal that includes fat.

---

Quick Writing Tip: 2 Words to Avoid

By Will Newman

Be careful when using the words "literally" and "virtually." They're often misused by writers - even some of the best.

"Literally" means "true and factual." Misusing this word can create funny images in your reader's mind. I recently read this from a well-known author: "I was literally blasted out of my reverie." Literally blasted? The pieces must have flown all over the place.

"Virtually" means "almost, nearly, or close at hand." You'll often see it used when the writer meant "literally." For example: "It was virtually the most exciting experience I ever had."

As with most adverbs (words that end in "-ly"), it's best to avoid using these two words.

__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue 1848, 09-30-06], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."

- John F. Kennedy

"If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability."

Henry Ford

"Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence."

Vince Lombardi

The Power of Active Visualization

By Robert Ringer

As a teenager, my favorite sport (after basketball) was fast-pitch softball. I was a catcher, slow afoot but determined. If you’ve ever played fast-pitch softball, you know that the ball is on top of you so quickly after leaving the pitcher’s hand that you can’t afford to blink. Which is why I almost never hit the ball out of the infield the first year I played in an organized league.

When I came to bat during one particular game, the second baseman for the other team yelled to the outfielders, "Move in. This guy’s an infield hitter." Sure enough, I hit a dribbler to the right side of the mound.

But the second baseman’s remark really ticked me off - so much so that it made me determined to do something about my meek infield hitting. I began by spending hours thinking about my hitting stance and how I swung the bat.

The first mistake I realized I was making was that I was putting my left foot "in the bucket" - stepping toward third base instead of toward the pitcher. When your first step is away from the mound, it gives you a head start on getting out of the way if the pitch ends up coming straight at you. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to hit with power when your pivot foot is preparing to head for the hills.

Second, I realized that I wasn’t swinging the bat with authority. (Experienced Major League scouts often categorize players as having a "quick bat" or "slow bat.")

Third, I was making the mistake of taking my eye off the ball, a result of focusing on getting out of the way.

Fourth, I was hitting the ball with a stiff swing - i.e., I wasn’t "breaking my wrists" at the moment of impact.

These four steps are a lot to concentrate on when the ball is coming at you from 50 feet away at breakneck speed. But I was determined to become a good hitter, so I started practicing them in my backyard every evening.

You might ask how I could practice hitting a ball … without actually hitting a ball. Well, I did it by using something I now call "active visualization" - the conscious attempt to influence the outcome of events by vividly picturing those outcomes in advance. This is a very powerful concept that can produce truly amazing results for the person who is willing to concentrate with intensity.

I got down in my batting crouch hundreds of times during each of my practice sessions and, with intense concentration, visualized the pitcher going through his windup and letting go of the ball. As I pictured the windup, I focused on stepping directly toward the pitcher with my left foot, which was a bold psychological statement that I intended to meet the pitch head on.

In step two of my practice, I swung the bat as hard as I could - initially in slow motion, then working up to full speed. For the first time, I was attacking the pitcher.

In step three, I practiced keeping my eyes glued to the end of the bat and visualized it making contact with the ball.

Finally, at the last instant, I sharply broke my wrists.

Each evening, after practicing these four steps in slow motion, I would begin to gradually increase my speed until I was swinging at full throttle. And I would mentally count the steps in order to give myself a rhythm.

I still remember the first game in which my 1-2-3-4 visualization practice produced positive results. The other team had a very fast left-handed pitcher who was pretty wild - just the kind of pitcher that would have scared me to death prior to my visualization practice.

I don’t know exactly how to express what I felt the first time I came to bat, but I distinctly remember there being no doubt in my mind that I was going to hit the ball hard to the outfield. I had visualized and practiced it so many times that I almost felt as though I had an unfair advantage.

In fact, I played a mental game with myself and pretended I was practicing in my backyard. When the pitcher went into his familiar windmill windup, I knew the instant I stepped directly toward him that I was going to make solid contact with the ball. And I did - a cannon shot that almost took his ear off.

I went three for three that day, all line drives to the outfield. After four straight games of great hitting, the manager installed me as the cleanup hitter, and I remained there for the rest of the season.

Instead of weakly dribbling the ball to the right side of the infield, I now pulled everything to the left, because I was always way out in front of the pitch. So much so that I hit a lot of line drives down the left-field line that went foul, and teams actually started shifting both their infields and outfields toward the left side of the diamond when I came to bat.

Little did I realize at the time that my successful experiment with the power of visualization would be one of the most important tools I would frequently employ years later in the business world. Before business meetings, I would play out in my mind every possible objection, question, and scenario I could imagine. And I would think through and practice how I would handle just about any obstacle that was placed in my path.

Preparation through visualization takes an excruciating amount of mental effort. But once you begin reaping the benefits of your efforts, I think you’ll find that the results are worth it. What it gets down to is paying the price out front … and enjoying the benefits down the road.

---

The "Anti-Aging" Vitamin for Your Brain
By Jon Herring

Folate is a B vitamin that plays a crucial role in the development of the human embryo. That’s why pregnant women are generally advised to take it, and why the government has mandated that folic acid be added to many foods (particularly grain products). Despite this, folic-acid deficiencies are still common.

And it is not just the developing embryo that needs this vital nutrient. Folate also has the ability to neutralize homocysteine, which, in high concentrations, can not only increase the risk of heart disease but also induce premature brain aging. It is this latter effect that was the subject of a recent study.

Utilizing very sensitive tests on memory and speed of thinking (which are known to decline with age), scientists in the Netherlands demonstrated that folic-acid supplements taken over a long period can dramatically slow the effects of aging on the brain. More than 800 participants between the ages of 50 and 70 were given a daily dose of 800 micrograms of folic acid for three years. At the end of that time, their cognitive performance was comparable to that of people five years younger.

If you’re looking to add more of this brain-boosting B vitamin to your diet, the best sources are leafy green vegetables, beef liver (grass-fed, organic), beans, and mushrooms. You can also find it in supplement form online or in most health food stores.
__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #1953, 01-31-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

Gluten Sensitivity -- Real or Imagined?

By James LaValle, R.Ph, ND, CCN

Today I want to talk about an issue that ties in with your gut health (the topic of my last article) -- gluten sensitivity, which is sometimes also referred to as gluten intolerance. Gluten as you may remember is the grain protein found in wheat, rye, and barley that causes gas, bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea and other seemingly unrelated symptoms such as headache, joint aches, depression, anxiety, and fatigue in sensitive individuals. All these symptoms arise as a result of an immune system reaction to gluten.

Many consumers have become increasingly aware of this issue and have been trying out gluten-free diets in such record numbers that the medical community has been questioning what in the world is going on that so many people think they are gluten intolerant.¹

The obvious answer is that maybe they really are. And the problem is that currently the only form of gluten sensitivity that is medically recognized is Celiac disease, an advanced form in which the immune cells cause damage to the intestinal villi. But the fact is, gluten sensitivity symptoms can range from a broad spectrum of fairly mild (but bad enough to affect a person's quality of life), to very severe, like that seen in Celiac disease.

The spike in individuals seeking gluten-free diets shows that we are seeing another legitimate medical condition (gluten-intolerance) in which mainstream medicine's diagnosis and treatment is inadequately dealing with people's actual symptoms and experiences. To put it another way, patients are currently ahead of their doctors in dealing with the reality of gluten intolerance.

I say this because the same scenario has occurred so many times in the past. Chronic fatigue is a good example. For years people were told it was all in their head until the medical community finally caught up.

Here are the seemingly unrelated circumstances that are in my opinion creating the perfect storm of gluten sensitivity in increasing numbers of people:

1. Antibiotics have been way over prescribed over the last few years. Antibiotics wipe out gut flora and that creates a whole series of events that allows the immune cells in the intestines to become overly reactive.

2. Recent research has revealed that up to one third of the U.S. population may have a gene that predisposes them to gluten intolerance.² This gene can be triggered by events like having surgery, catching a virus, or experiencing significant emotional stress -- factors that can affect gut flora and immunity. The gene can also be triggered by simply eating gluten.³ The length of time a person was breast fed also influences his or her risk.

3. Gluten is present in approximately 80% of our foods. This is not an official estimate, but if you look at the list of foods that contain gluten, about the only gluten-free foods are meats, fish, beans, fresh produce, and gluten-free grains like rice and quinoa.

With the milder symptoms of gluten sensitivity, physicians often don't think to have their patients tested for Celiac disease, and our experience at LMI is that it wouldn't matter if they did. That's because in order for gluten sensitivity to show up in the traditional blood tests or intestinal biopsies that are used to diagnose Celiac disease, the case has to be advanced.

Fortunately, thanks to a forward thinking gastroenterologist, Dr. Kenneth Fine, this scenario is changing. Dr. Fine discovered that it was possible for the body to make antibodies to gluten, and for them to be confined to the intestines, meaning they would not show up in the blood. Dr. Fine's discoveries explain why it is possible for people to have all the signs and symptoms of gluten sensitivity, but with the traditional tests coming up negative.

Dr. Fine also developed a method of testing that can find these antibodies in a stool sample. We are now using this testing for some of our patients at LMI. (For more information on the testing and gluten sensitivity, you can visit www.enterolab.com).

I know many of my patients feel better on a gluten-free diet so they don't consider it necessary to belabor the point with extensive testing, since the primary treatment is simply to avoid gluten-containing foods to the extent necessary to relieve your symptoms.

I have also made it a practice for years to recommend probiotics for anyone with digestive-related disorders like Celiac disease. Studies now validate that indeed probiotics have been found to accelerate healing in the intestines of Celiac patients when used along with a gluten-free diet.⁴

I believe we can view this milder gluten sensitivity as a way to identify Celiac disease in its early form, before it becomes an extremely debilitating autoimmune condition that can have further serious consequences. People with Celiac disease often go on to develop second and even third autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome. In addition, Celiac disease increases the risk of several types of cancer.⁵

If you have any of the signs of gluten intolerance, and feel better when avoiding gluten, don't let anyone make you think that it is imaginary. Avoiding gluten may be an inconvenience, but worth it if avoidance improves how you feel and prevents future problems. Taking a probiotic will further balance your immunity and help rebuild your gut health.

References

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/08/health/08glut.html.
2. https://www.enterolab.com/StaticPages/Faq_Result_Interpretation.htm.
3. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac.
4. Lindfors et al. Clin Exp Immunol. 2008 Apr 16.
5. http://www.celiac.com/articlerss/cat/3345.

[Ed. Note: James LaValle is the founding Director of the LaValle Metabolic Institute, one of the largest integrative medicine practices in the country. Dr. LaValle is the author of The Metabolic Code Diet: Unleashing the Power of Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss and Vitality and the Executive Editor of THB's The Healing Prescription.]

Cutting Edge Fitness: Put Your Money Where the Muscle Is! By Missy Hawthorne, RN, CSCS

"I'm gonna pump you up!" How can we forget this well known phrase from an unforgettable Saturday Night Live skit! We laugh at the memory of two over-inflated comedians flexing their biceps, when in fact pumping up is exactly what we should be doing!

By definition, strength training (or "pumping up") is the process of lifting progressively heavier resistance for the purpose of building strength, muscular endurance and size of skeletal muscle.¹

In the past, strength training wasn't fully appreciated for its importance in true fitness and health. Today that has really changed -- almost everyone knows they should be doing some strength training to preserve physical capacity and metabolic health. Not to mention it's a great way to sculpt your appearance. With strength training, you can also be very specific for injury prevention. However, I still find that strength training is not fully appreciated for how well it can help us preserve our health and physical independence as we age.

Muscle preservation is the key. For every decade you grow older, you will lose about 61/2 pounds of muscle, and muscle is our metabolically active tissue responsible for more than 25 percent of our calorie use.² Age-related muscle loss is a big reason people gain weight as they age, if they don't take measures to preserve their muscle.

Research indicates men and women both gain about 2-4 pounds of muscle and 40-60 percent more strength after only two months of regular strength training. Although your metabolism naturally decreases as you age, strength training can markedly delay this process.

Since there are as many ways to strength train as there are trainers, it can be confusing, especially for anyone who hasn't yet incorporated much strength training into their fitness routine. And sometimes even when we are more advanced in our fitness level, we can use a reminder of the fundamentals. I have a few pointers that have helped my clients.

Strength Training Guidelines²

• Select at least one exercise for each major muscle group: Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Lower Back, Abdominals, Chest, Upper Back, Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps and Neck.
• Train large muscle groups before small. For example, the legs are larger than the muscles of the arms and neck.
• Lift at a slow pace. As you begin a program, a reasonable recommendation is a 1- to 2-second lift followed by a 3- to 4-second lowering.
• Complete 8 to 12 repetitions with 70-80 percent of maximum safe muscle development.
• The key is progressive resistance. As a muscle group adapts to a given weight or a high number of reps (> 15) gradually increase the weight by five percent or less (2.5-5 lbs) and drop back to 8-10 reps.
• Warm-up prior to strength training. Eight to 10 minutes of light aerobic activity like walking on the treadmill or a stationary bike are easy options.
• Strength train every other day. Allow the muscles worked at least 24 hours to properly recover and synthesize protein to build muscle.

Preserving our muscle is the difference between being able or not being able to do very basic activities as you get older. And did I mention strength training can decrease blood pressure, increase bone density and even protect your memory and eyesight³ as you age? If I were a betting person, I'd put my money where the muscle is! Strength training is one of the best things you can do to protect your health as you age.

References

1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/strength training.
2. Westcott, W. Personal Trainer Manual. Richard T. Cotton, Ed., pages 241-248.
3. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061031192307.htm.

[Ed. Note: Melissa Hawthorne, RN, BSN, CSCS is the owner of Priority Fitness Personal Training and Wellness. She is a Master Trainer for the Resist-a-ball Company, ISCA Personal Training, Kick-boxing, and Beamfit. Melissa serves as a fitness consultant for the LaValle Metabolic Institute. To learn more, click here.]

Healthy Nutrition: Coconuts -- Health Food or Foe? By Laura LaValle, RD, LD

Remember the old song "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts?" (It still lives on You Tube, if you don't remember.) Coconut and coconut oil are becoming such increasingly popular foods, I think this silly song from the 1940s may make a comeback.

There are many claimed health benefits of coconuts and the oil made from them, but traditional medical advice is to avoid coconut oil because it is so high in saturated fat.

This fat is a blend of medium chain and long chain fats, and is very tolerant to high heats, meaning it won't promote free radical activity in your body. So coconut oil is great for cooking, but is it bad for cholesterol?

Medium chain fats seem to lower cholesterol while long chain fats seem to raise it, so studies on coconut oil not surprisingly are a mixed bag; some have shown that it lowers cholesterol, some that it raises it and some that it has no effect.¹

The confusion may have arisen because some of the older studies on coconut oil used hydrogenated coconut oil. (Hydrogenation destroys essential fatty acids in the oil and produces harmful trans fats in their place.)

In newer studies that have used virgin coconut oil, the results have been favorable, finding extremely beneficial effects on lipids like lowering total cholesterol, triglycerides, and oxidized LDL, while increasing beneficial HDL.² Newer studies have also shown virgin coconut oil can lower other heart disease risk factors like lipoprotein (a) levels and plasminogen activating factor, a substance in the blood that promotes clotting.³ These benefits are being observed despite coconut oil's saturated fat content.

Another claimed benefit of coconut oil is that it may aid weight loss, and indeed several studies using a purified form of the medium chain fats from coconut oil, called MCT oil, have found that it helped subjects lose fat weight specifically, while improving blood sugar and cholesterol levels.^4,5

In one of these studies, not only did the MCT group lose more body fat compared to a group who used olive oil in their diet, there was a lowering of cholesterol and blood pressure, and three subjects had complete reversal of metabolic syndrome, compared to two in the olive oil group.⁶

Another claim that is strongly supported by numerous studies is that coconuts are good for immunity. The primary fatty acid in coconuts, lauric acid, converts to a substance called monolaurin that has antifungal properties and is so effective against the yeast Candida that it is being evaluated as an alternative to the antifungal medication, fluconazole.⁷

In addition, monolaurin has been shown to have potent antiviral and antibacterial properties.⁸ Studies have shown that it is effective against viruses like the one that causes Epstein Barr and bacteria including H. pylori,⁹ the cause of ulcers and heart burn. Monolaurin is now available in supplement form. At LMI we use it with great results in our patients whose immune systems need a boost.

Overall, I believe the new evidence shows that coconuts and coconut oil can be eaten safely and in fact seem to have numerous health benefits. I know I have been making an effort to include more coconut products in my diet, plus I really enjoy them.

But as for that lovely bunch of coconuts, I buy the products that are already packaged and ready to go. Coconut oil is great for cooking and even for frying, but make sure to look for virgin oil, which is processed in such a way that the oil retains the healthy components.

Shredded coconut makes a great salad topping and can be used in trail mix blends; I just avoid the sweetened ones. And coconut milk can be used as a milk substitute in almost any application from baking to using it in your coffee for a different flavor twist.

References

1. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FDN/is_/ai_94159012?tag=artBody;col1.
   
2. Nevin KG and Rajamohan T. Clin Biochem. 2004 Sep;37(9):830-5.
   
3. Muller H, et al. J Nutr. 2003 Nov;133(11):3422-7.
   
4. http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/5/547.
   
5. St.-Onge MP, et al. Obes Res. 2003 Mar;11(3):395-402.
   
6. http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/5/547.
   
7. Ogbolu Do, et al. J Med Food. 2007 Jun;10(2):384-87.
   
8. Arch Virol. 2001;146(4):777-90.
   
9. Preuss HG. et al. Mol Cell Biochem. 2005 Apr;272(1-2):29-34.

[Ed. Note: Laura B. LaValle, RD, LD is presently the director of dietetics nutrition at LaValle Metabolic Institute. Laura and her husband, Jim LaValle, R.Ph, CCN, ND have developed the powerful and life-changing Metabolic Code Diet - containing step-by-step, easy to follow recommendations for harnessing optimal metabolic energy and turning your body's chemical make up into a fat-burning furnace.]

Healthy Recipes: No Bake Chocolate Coconut Cookies By Laura LaValle, RD, LD

These simple but delicious cookies are reminiscent of the no-bake cookies you may have eaten as a child, but without the oatmeal. They're sure to satisfy your sweet tooth while providing some of the health benefits of both cocoa and coconuts, as long as you're sure to choose a low-sugar dark chocolate and unsweetened coconut.

Time to table: 30 minutes

Serves: 16

Healing Nutrient Spotlight: Source of iron and fiber

Ingredients*
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

* Choose organic ingredients for optimal nutrition.

Preparation
Place chocolate chips in top of double boiler or in a stainless steel or glass bowl that will fit on top of a saucepan of water. Heat the water to a slow simmer then place the chocolate chips in the container on top of the hot water. As the chips begin to melt, stir them rapidly to prevent the chocolate from burning. Lift the bowl off the pot of water and stir the coconut into the melted chocolate. Drop the mixture by tablespoonfuls onto an oiled cookie sheet and place into the refrigerator to set up. Makes 32 cookies, 2 per serving.

Nutrition
108 calories, 2 g protein, 8 g carbohydrates, 9 g fat, 7 g saturated fat, 5 g sugar, 2 g fiber, .18 mg iron, 3 mg sodium.

__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs [Issue 01-27-09] which offers alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com/

A Hidden (and Unexpected) Danger of Too Much Salt

By Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., CNS

For years, we've been hearing about the dangers of too much sodium in the diet. In salt-sensitive people, sodium can, in fact, raise blood pressure. (Though there's no real test for salt sensitivity, it's believed that about half the population is salt-sensitive.) Now new research shows there's another reason to lower your sodium intake: It could be making you down excess sugar.

Researchers at St. George's University of London studied 1,600 children aged 4-18. They found that those who had the most sodium in their diet also consumed the most sugary soft drinks. And they suggested that a reduction of two grams of salt per day (1,200 mg of sodium) would result in two fewer sodas consumed per week.

We've talked about the dangers of drinking soda before in ETR. If you need a refresher, check out Jon's article on one long-term risk. One of the biggest problems is all the sugar they contain. And too much sugar is your ticket to obesity.

The recommendation for sodium consumption is 2,400 mg or less per day - about six teaspoons. But many Americans consume the equivalent of 15-20 teaspoons, a whopping 6,000-8,000 mg of sodium! And most of it is coming from processed foods, canned goods - almost anything with a bar code.

Bottom line: Read the labels and reject anything with triple-digit sodium content per serving. Eat whole foods, and ease up on the salt shaker. When you do use salt, use Celtic sea salt, which is high in minerals.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Jonny Bowden is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition, and health.]

It's Fun to Know: The Largest Oil Reserves in the Solar System

Scientists have found a source of natural gas and oil hundreds of times larger than that found on Earth. But don't toss aside your worries about the rising price of gasoline just yet. This huge cache is on Titan, one of Saturn's moons. Nightly oil and natural gas rainstorms on Titan form vast oceans and lakes of the liquid hydrocarbons. But with temperatures reaching minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit, it's safe to say ExxonMobil won't be drilling there anytime soon.

(Source: LiveScience)

Word to the Wise: Volte-Face

"Volte-face" (vawl-tuh-FAHS) - from the Italian for "turn" + "face" - is a reversal, as in policy or opinion.

Example (as used by L.E. Sissman in The Atlantic): "Suddenly confronted with the imminent ruin of Angela Lyne, his former mistress, who is drinking herself to death out of loneliness, he [Evelyn Waugh] does the first real volte-face of his life by returning to her."

__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2302, 03-13-08], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

The Long-Term Risk of Drinking Soda

By Jon Herring

If you think that limiting sodas to "just one a day" won't hurt your health, think again. New evidence shows that the extra sugar in soft drinks can substantially increase your risk of serious disease.

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that women who drank at least one sugar-sweetened soft drink a day were 85 percent more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than women who drank sugary sodas less than once a month. According to the study, sugars from liquid foods - like soft drinks - were more likely to cause the weight gain and obesity that sets the stage for this disease.

So next time you're tempted to grab a soda, try a healthier alternative. Filtered water or green tea won't give you a sugar buzz, but your body will thank you in the long run.

---

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."

- Mark Twain

Is Size Overrated?

By Robert Ringer

Some years ago, my son played in a youth basketball league that was pretty intense. The reason for the intensity was that most of the fathers were trying to relive their youth through their sons, and wanted their boys to become the athletes that they themselves never were.

In my son's first year, he played in a league for fourth graders. At that age, there are always some kids who are way ahead of the pack - who have developed their skills to a level two or three years beyond their chronological age. Kids like these can win championships all by themselves.

There were a lot of excellent ballplayers in my son's league, but the best of the best was a shrimp who played as though he could have stepped into the starting lineup of the Harlem Globetrotters without missing a beat. When he dribbled, you could swear he had a string attached to the ball.

Notwithstanding the fact that he was one of the shortest kids in the league, he led all scorers and had a season high of 42 points in one game. I don't know if he'll end up playing college ball somewhere, but at that age he was truly awesome.

I happened to be sitting next to this pint-size wizard's parents at a semi-final playoff game, and, as usual, he totally controlled the tempo. I noted that his mom and dad were also very short.

At one point, I asked his dad how his son was able to dominate kids twice his size. He replied, "I've always taught him that size is overrated." What a great philosophy to feed an undersized kid. What a great self-esteem builder.

I never forgot that father's words. In fact, on reflection, I now think of him as a modern-day Aristotle. He prompted me to think about all the big people and big entities that paralyze most of the world's population. And he reinforced my longstanding belief that smallness can actually be turned into an advantage.

Size matters ... but it doesn't carry the day. What matters more are qualities such as determination, persistence, a desire to learn, and, above all, resourcefulness.

David slew Goliath ... the war-torn Japanese caught, then overtook, the big, bad U.S. automakers ... Spud Webb, at 5' 6" and 133 pounds, won the NBA's slam-dunk contest in 1986 ... the Yankees are now routinely pushed around at playoff time by traditional non-winners like the Angels, Red Sox, and Diamondbacks. You could go on with this list for hours.

People often marvel at how Wal-Mart snuck up on Sears, which was the largest retailer in the world for decades. Not too long ago, Wal-Mart was a joke in retailing circles - a little regional company with stores in towns that had populations of 5,000 or less.

The fat-cat Sears board members and top executives, up to their ears in perks and golden parachutes, never even saw Sam Walton coming. If you were the largest retailer in the world, would you have been afraid of an outfit out of Bentonville, Arkansas?

Sears thought it was being very prudent to keep one eye on Target and the other on Kmart. Too bad it didn't have a third eye in the back of its corporate head to keep tabs on that cute little retailer from nowheresville.

Yes, size matters, but it doesn't insulate one from failure.

Take the poor elephant. He's the largest land animal on the planet, but that hasn't done him a whole lot of good. Of the more than 350 species of proboscideans that paleontologists have been able to identify, only two remain - the African and Indian elephants.

In fact, the elephant's main problem is that he is too big. Just to absorb all the oxygen he requires, he needs an acre of lung surface. He has to roam around 16 hours each and every day to find hundreds of pounds of grass and foliage to satisfy his hundreds of feet of intestines and complex digestive organs.

Worse, because of his enormous size, he can't even jump over a seven-foot trench. He's been known to be freaked out by dogs, mosquitoes, and even ants. And he is unusually prone to such illnesses as colds, pneumonia, mumps, and diabetes.

I tell you, size is overrated.

Upstart Microsoft didn't fear giant IBM ... upstart Google didn't fear giant Microsoft ... and some unknown upstart who is working in his garage at this very moment doesn't fear giant Google.

Nor should you fear giants. Never forget that you have many advantages over the big guys, one of the most important being that you can move much more swiftly than elephants like IBM, Microsoft, and Google. After all, they are under tremendous pressure to build more and more lung capacity just to be able to absorb enough air.

While the giants are huffing and puffing to fend off predators, you have the luxury of concentrating on action - bold, continuous action. And for you, jumping a seven-foot trench should be a piece of cake. Of course, if you're lucky enough to become a giant some day, you'll find that making that jump becomes harder with each passing year.

You'll also find that your chances of longevity will increase if you can figure out a way to put an eye in the back of your head as you grow larger. You'll need that eye, because you can count on the entrepreneurial descendents of Bill Gates, Sam Walton, et al to be coming up fast behind you.

---

Word to the Wise: Mellifluous

Something that's "mellifluous" (muh-LIF-loo-us) flows sweetly or smoothly.

Example (as used by Ken Gormley in Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation): "The tones were high-sounding, mellifluous, as if the speaker was reading from a book of old English verse while holding back any trace of sentiment or emotion."

__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #1737, 05-24-06], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"I think it's very important that whatever you're trying to make or sell or teach has to be basically good. A bad product and you know what? You won't be here in ten years."

- Martha Stewart

A Fruity Way to Lose Weight

By Kelley Herring

Want to drop a few pounds? It may sound counterintuitive, but there's a before-meal snack that can give your weight-loss efforts a boost.

A recent study published in the journal Nutrition divided women into two groups. One group got an apple or a pear before meals, while the other group got an oat cookie. Aside from that, both groups were on the same reduced-calorie diet for 12 weeks.

At the end of the 12 weeks, the fruit eaters had lost an average of more than 2.6 pounds, while the cookie crunchers had insignificant weight loss. What's more, the fruit eaters had a greater decrease in blood sugar levels.

Researchers believe the weight-loss secret of apples and pears lies in their high-water, high-fiber, yet low-calorie composition.

Shape up your health with organic apples and pears. But make sure you're conscious of your sugar intake. A medium apple has 14 grams of sugar (72 calories, 19 carbs, 3 grams of fiber). A medium pear has 16 grams of sugar (96 calories, 26 carbs, 5 grams of fiber).

It's Good to Know: The Gulf Stream Power Plant

At 8.5 billion gallons per second, the Gulf Stream is the world's strongest sustained ocean current. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University believe it could also provide enough energy to meet one-third of their state's electricity needs.

The energy would be harnessed by thousands of underwater turbines set 30 to 40 feet below the surface. Plans call for an offshore test turbine within months. Based on the results of that experiment, a larger system could be established.

(Source: Associated Press)

Word to the Wise: Temerarious

"Temerarious" (tem-uh-RARE-ee-us) - from the Latin - means recklessly or presumptuously daring.

Example (as used by H.G. Wells in The New Machiavelli): "I have confessed myself a temerarious theologian, and in that passage from boyhood to manhood I ranged widely in my search for some permanently satisfying Truth."

__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2301, 03-12-08], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

Don't AGE Yourself With Your Cooking

By Kelley Herring

The way you cook may be just as important to your health as the food itself.

"Advanced glycation end products" (AGE) is a class of toxins that have been linked to inflammation, insulin resistance, diabetes, vascular and kidney disease, and Alzheimer's. And they are absorbed into your body when you eat animal products cooked or processed at high temperatures. (Think grilling, frying, smoking, or broiling, as well as pasteurizing.)

A recent study published in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences evaluated 172 healthy men and women in two age groups - a younger group (between the ages of 18 and 45) and an older group (between the ages of 60 and 80). The researchers wanted to determine how age and diet influences the accumulation of AGE in the body.

While researchers found that AGE levels were 35 percent higher in the older group, they could be very high in young, healthy people, as well. In fact, AGE levels in some of the younger, healthy adults in this study were as high as those seen in diabetic patients.

The higher the consumption of foods rich in AGE, the higher the blood levels of AGE and CRP and other markers of inflammation... in all the study participants.

So how can you cook to AGE less? It's pretty simple. Just keep the heat down and maintain the water content in your food. That means enjoying more raw, fresh foods. And when you do turn on the heat, choose to boil, slow-roast, steam, or stew. Also, because pasteurizing promotes AGE, opt for raw milk, cheeses, and juices.

It's Fun to Know: Power Your Cellphone With Your Shirt

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a fabric that can generate enough power to run a cellphone, mp3 player, or similar electronic device. The fabric is made up of high-tech microscopic fibers that generate electricity when rubbed together. The goal is to make clothing that would enable the wearer's movements to power any electronics plugged into it.

The researchers envision a wide variety of applications for this technology, including military and medical uses. But there are still two obstacles they have to overcome: making the fabric waterproof and making it washable.

(Source: Reuters)

Word to the Wise: Cap-a-Pie

"Cap-a-pie" (cap-uh-PEE) - from the French - means "head-to-toe."

Example (as used by Arnold Beichman in the Washington Times): "In another age, there would have been beheadings, clanging prison doors in the dark Tower; there would have been a second royal court with an army preparing to do battle, prancing steeds and knights armored cap-a-pie."

__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2300, 03-11-08], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

Nutrients & Health: Piedra de Azufre -- Ancient Back Relief Secret of the Charrúa Indians

By Wendy Montes de Oca

After complaining to my husband, Jose, about what felt like an "air pocket" trapped in my back, I asked him to get a Motrin for me. To my surprise, instead of handing me that little orange tablet we've become all too familiar with, he showed me a small, yellow stone that he proceeded to roll around the affected area of my back. Almost immediately, I felt relief similar to when a chiropractor or massage therapist cracks your back or rubs out a knot.
Read more »

"You are already of consequence in the world if you are known as a man of strict integrity."

- Grenville Kleiser

"Don't be a time manager, be a priority manager."

- Denis Waitley

How to Make Measurable Progress Toward Your Most-Neglected Goals

By Michael Masterson

To Master Plan your new life, you must begin with long-term goals that correspond to your core values. From that good start, you must establish yearly and monthly objectives. Based on those objectives, you create weekly and daily task lists. Doing all that will help greatly. But if you want to really change your life, you have to learn how to prioritize.

I didn't always know how to prioritize. For much of my business career, I relied on goal setting and task lists and was happy with the results. But when I turned 50 and started writing for Early to Rise, I began to read how other business leaders achieved their goals. And that's when I discovered what a huge difference prioritizing can make.

The most important lesson I learned came from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. In that book, Covey presents a technique for prioritizing that impressed me greatly and soon became a central part of my planning process.

Divide your tasks, Covey says, into four categories:

• Not important and not urgent

• Not important but urgent

• Important but not urgent

• Important and urgent

In the "not important and not urgent" category, you would put such things as:

• Catching up on office gossip

• Shopping online for personal items

• Answering unimportant phone calls

• Responding to unimportant e-mails

In the "not important but urgent" category, you would include:

• Returning phone calls from pesky salespeople

• Making last-minute preparations for an office party

• Attending a required meeting that doesn't help your career

• Planning for a meeting that doesn't matter

In the "important and urgent" category, you might list:

• Making last-minute preparations for an important meeting with the boss

• Making last-minute sales calls to key clients

• Solving unexpected problems

And, finally, in the "important but not urgent" category, you might include:

• Learning how to write better

• Learning how to speak better

• Learning how to think better

• Working on your novel

• Getting down to a healthy weight

When you break up tasks into these four categories, it's easy to see that you should give no priority at all to "not important and not urgent" tasks. In fact, these tasks should not be done at all. They are a waste of time. Yet many people spend lots of time on them because they tend to be easy to do and sometimes enjoyable in a mindless sort of way. Or because they are afraid to get to work on important tasks because they are afraid of failure.

Even worse than spending time on tasks that are not important and not urgent is spending time on those that are not important but urgent. They should have been dealt with long before they reached the crisis stage.

If you discover that you are spending a lot of time on unimportant tasks, you've got a serious problem. Unless you change your ways, you're unlikely to achieve any of your important goals.

So which tasks should you give priority to?

In Seven Habits, Covey says that most people think they should give priority to important and urgent tasks. But this is a mistake. "It's like the pounding surf," he says. "A huge problem comes and knocks you down and you're wiped out. You struggle back up only to face another one that knocks you down and slams you to the ground." You are "literally beat up by problems all day every day."

All urgent tasks - both unimportant and important - are problematic: They are urgent because you've neglected something or because they are important to other people (like your boss). In either case, you need to find a way to keep most of them from winding up on your daily to-do list. This means making some changes in your work habits - usually a combination of being more efficient and delegating more chores to other people.

Urgent tasks will burn you out. And turn you into an unhappy workaholic. If you want transformation in your life, you have to give priority to the important but not urgent tasks - because those are the ones that will help you achieve your major, long-term goals.

It's not easy.

The important but not urgent tasks whisper, while the urgent tasks shout. But there is a way to get that critical but quiet stuff done in four simple steps:

Step 1. When planning your day, divide your tasks into Covey's four categories: not important and not urgent, not important but urgent, important but not urgent, and important and urgent.

Step 2. You will, of course, have to do the urgent tasks - at least until you get better at taking charge of your schedule. And you will have to find a way to get rid of the tasks that are not important and not urgent. But make sure you include one important but not urgent task that, when completed, will move you closer to one of your long-term goals.

Step 3. Highlight that important but not urgent task on your to-do list. Make it your number one priority for the day.

Step 4. Do that task first - before you do anything else.

Initially, you will find it difficult to do an important but not urgent task first. There are reasons for that.

• Since it is not urgent, you don't feel like it's important. But it is.

• Since it supports a goal you've been putting off, you are in the habit of neglecting it.

• You are in the habit of neglecting it because you don't think it's important and because you might be afraid of doing it.

• You might be afraid of doing it because you know, deep down inside, that it will change your life. And change, even good change, is scary.

But once you start using this little four-step technique, you'll notice something right away.

The first thing you'll notice is how good you feel. Accomplishing something you've been putting off is energizing. It will erase some doubts you have about yourself - doubts caused by years of "never getting to" your long-term goals.

That extra energy and confidence will grow, and will fuel you throughout the day. This will make it easier for you to accomplish other important but not urgent tasks.

As the days go by, you will realize that you are making measurable progress toward your neglected goals. In just a few weeks, you will be amazed at how much you've already done. And in 52 weeks - a short year from now - you will be a brand-new, much more productive person.

That year is going to pass by anyway. You are going to spend the time somehow. Why not do it by taking charge of your schedule? Why not spend that time on yourself - on what's really important to you?

A $6 Natural Cure for Poor Liver Function

By Shane Ellison

You gotta love your liver. It's the chief organ responsible for allowing you to "toss a few back" and enjoy your wine buzz without getting sick. It also protects you from many toxins. Unfortunately, it's not invincible. When the liver is bombarded with too many toxins, it gets hard and stops working.

Cirrhosis of the liver is one of the 10 leading causes of death in the U.S.... and it goes virtually unnoticed. So does its simple cure... which you can find on the shelf at your local drugstore: milk thistle.

Milk thistle - which has many anti-aging properties - is in the daisy family. It is able to bind to the squishy membrane of our cells and form a protective "shield" from such things as alcohol, environmental pollutants, poisonous mushrooms, and prescription drugs. Research published in the scientific journal Hepatology Research indicates that milk thistle can be used successfully to treat not only cirrhosis but also hepatitis (liver inflammation and dysfunction) caused by viral infection and excess alcohol consumption.

Big Pharma has been trying to identify and design a molecular copycat that mimics milk thistle's healing molecules. To date, they have failed. But that doesn't mean you can't benefit from the natural source. This powerful liver protector is fairly easy to find. You can buy it at RiteAid, on Amazon.com, and at Wal-Mart. You'll pay only about $6 for a month's supply.

It's Good to Know: Tattooed Vaccines?

If you have a fear of needles, please read no further. German researchers have found that injecting certain types of vaccines with a vibrating tattoo gun is more effective than traditional injections. In lab tests with mice, vaccines injected with a tattoo needle produced an immune response 16 times greater than a single injection with a syringe. The theory is that because the rapidly moving, multi-needle tattoo gun "damages" the skin more than a single injection, the vaccine is more easily absorbed.

The scientists don't expect this practice to become widespread with human patients. (It hurts!) But they say it would be ideal for vaccinating animals.

(Source: BBC)

Word to the Wise: Sere

"Seer" (SEER) - from the Old English - means dry and withered.

Example (as used by Angela Carter in Shaking A Leg): "There was a lavatory at the end of the garden beyond a scraggy clump of Michaelmas daisies that never looked well in themselves, always sere, never blooming, the perennial ghosts of themselves, as if ill-nourished by an exhausted soil."

__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2299, 03-10-08], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

The Stress-Reducing Power of a Daily Task List

By Joseph McCaffrey, M.D., FACS

Here's a quick suggestion for relieving stress: Don't ask your brain to do something it's not particularly good at.

Much of the stress in today's world comes from having to juggle multiple tasks and responsibilities. If you try to keep track of all that in your head, you're using some of your brainpower to remember and prioritize. Which means it's not available to actually think. Not only that, you wind up with an underlying concern that you may be forgetting something important... or that you may not be doing the most important things first.

In short, you feel stress.

Don't do it.

When you're faced with multiple tasks and responsibilities, take a moment to write them down. Automatically, that frees up the part of your brain that was trying to keep track of all that stuff. Now you can focus your full mental capabilities on what your wonderful brain does best: problem solving and creating.

The simple act of writing things down changes the overwhelming to the manageable.

[Ed. Note: Joseph McCaffrey, M.D., FACS, is a board-certified surgeon with over 30 years of experience helping people overcome health problems using both conventional and complementary medical practices. For more information about the factors that empower people to attain optimal wellness, visit www.jfmccaffreymd.com.]

The Language Perfectionist: A Roundup of "Confusables."

By Don Hauptman

It's easy to mistake one word for another, especially when they look or sound similar. Here are five pairs that are often confused and misused:

• You are averse to something if you are reluctant to do it, not adverse. "Adverse" is correctly used to modify a noun: adverse weather, adverse criticism.

• When you boast about your achievement, you flaunt - not flout - it. You flout a rule when you ignore it, violate it, or treat it with contempt.

• If you really want to catch a particular movie, you are eager to see it, not anxious. "Eager" means enthusiastic. "Anxious" means experiencing anxiety or worry.

• Your kids may sometimes irritate you, but they don't aggravate you. "Aggravate" means to make a condition worse, as in "He tried to help, but his interference just aggravated the problem."

• The word fewer - not less - refers to items that can be counted. As usage expert Theodore M. Bernstein advised, "Use less for quantity and fewer for number."

A note about fewer vs. less: A literate friend of mine claims that he always shops at a certain supermarket because the signs, unlike those at competitive stores in his neighborhood, correctly read "10 Items or Fewer."

[Ed Note: Don Hauptman was a direct-response copywriter for more than 30 years. For his direct-mail subscription packages, he won The Newsletter on Newsletters promotion award for 10 years. He writes about the English language, and is now working on a humorous new book in that genre.]

It's Fun to Know: Lickable Ads

You're flipping through a magazine when you see an ad for a new fruit juice. No need to rush out to the grocery store to see how it tastes. With a new type of ad featuring a lickable panel, you can find out immediately.

The removable, flavor-laden stickers can be licked just once and can't be reattached to the ad. So far, this technology, which has been approved by the FDA, has been used to promote grape juice and toothpaste in popular magazines such as People and Rolling Stone.

Although advertisers are still studying the "ick factor" (how receptive consumers are to licking ads), new flavors are being developed. Keep an eye out for pizza, soy milk, and children's cold medicines.

(Source: The Wall Street Journal)

Word to the Wise: Constitutional

A "constitutional" (kon-stih-TOO-shun-ul) is a walk taken for your health (for the benefit of your "constitution").

Example (as used by Richard Elman in Namedropping: Mostly Literary Memoirs): "Kerensky was, I imagine, on his usual early morning constitutional."

__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2298, 03-08-08], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"Success requires first expending ten units of effort to produce one unit of results. Your momentum will then produce ten units of results with each unit of effort."

- Charles J. Givens

Circuit Training Beats Cardio

By Craig Ballantyne

Long, slow, boring aerobic exercise may get all the glory in the media. But you can get a lot more bang for your fitness buck with circuit training.

Brazilian researchers assigned subjects to a 12-week program of either cardio or total-body circuit training. Both groups exercised for 35 minutes three times per week. At the end of the study, both groups had increased their aerobic fitness by four percent. In addition, both groups had increased their leg strength by six percent. However, only the circuit-training group had increased their upper-body strength too.

Even if you're a beginner, your best bet for maximum gains is a total-body circuit-training program: strength training done with short rest periods between exercises. This is especially true if the amount of time you can commit to a workout program is limited.

It's Good to Know: Emergency Numbers to Keep in Your Cellphone

In an emergency, you don't want to be digging around to find the right phone number to call for help. So store the following numbers in your cellphone for easy and quick access:

• Lost or stolen credit card hotline(s)

• Car insurance claims hotline

• Health insurance provider

• Local locksmith

• Local towing service

• Your doctor(s)

(Source: Marc and Angel and Lifehacker)

Word to the Wise: Apotheosis

An "apotheosis" (uh-pah-thee-OH-sis) is an exalted or glorified example. The word is derived from the Greek for "to deify."

Example (as used by John Brewer in The Pleasures of the Imagination): "Charles I's court represented the English apotheosis of this Renaissance ideal of kingship."

__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2297, 03-07-08], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

- Winston Churchill

The Rocky Balboa of New Zealand

By Robert Ringer

New Zealand hero Sir Edmund Hillary and his climbing partner, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first men to conquer Mt. Everest. An amazing feat! But Hillary isn't the only New Zealander whose accomplishments still inspire me.

I am referring, here, to my one-time neighbor John Britten, who was born with a serious learning disability that made reading extremely difficult. Not able to learn in conventional schools, Britten attended night school and eventually earned an engineering degree from Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology. His determination to earn a degree - and, more important, gain precious knowledge - was a sign of things to come.

Britten was a quiet, unassuming, totally focused individual. Some years before I met him, he began building, of all things, a futuristic motorcycle in his garage. His stated goal was to win the prestigious Battle of the Twins international cycle race in Daytona Beach, FL.

His cutting-edge cycle involved over 6,000 parts, most of which Britten made by hand. With the notable exception of the engine, his extraordinary machine was constructed primarily of carbon fiber, a first for the motorcycle industry.

He had dedicated helpers who worked for free, mostly at night, while holding down full-time jobs during the day. Incredibly, the actual cost of Britten's masterpiece was not more than a few hundred dollars. Meanwhile, many large corporate sponsors spent several million on their entries.

Working while others slept was a Britten norm that was accepted by those who agreed to become involved in his projects. Toiling around the clock was his trademark. Anything short of a superhuman pace would have made it impossible for him to build his one-of-a-kind cycle from scratch in just under 11 months, barely finishing in time for the Battle of the Twins.

With just three weeks to go before the big race, Britten's carbon-fiber cycle crashed while being tested. It was a cruel blow, a bad break that everyone agreed Britten didn't deserve. The task of locating and correcting the problem, then repairing the bike, seemed insurmountable. But Britten and his crew again managed to overcome all obstacles, and arrived in Daytona just in time.

Then, during the qualifying run, disaster again struck. Just 12 hours before race time, a hairline crack in a cylinder sleeve - one of the few parts Britten had not built himself - threatened to end his bid for the unofficial world championship for twin-cylinder motorcycles. His reaction? After tireless but fruitless efforts to find the part in the Daytona area, Britten, who had no previous experience welding cylinder sleeves, repaired it himself.

By race time, Britten had been awake 47 hours straight. But, as events unfolded, it looked as though the monumental effort by him and his team would finally pay off. Once again, however, bad luck reared its ugly head. With Britten's cycle leading the pack, rain forced an end to the race one lap from the finish. The entire race had to be run over.

In the restarted race, Britten's cycle again led the pack most of the way, until - you guessed it - yet another non-Britten-built part, a faulty rectifier, halted his bid for victory once and for all. John Britten had captured the admiration of the racing world, but had failed to come home with a trophy.

But when he returned to New Zealand, he didn't waste time focusing on the bad breaks he had experienced in Daytona. Instead, he went right back to work, rebuilt his handcrafted motorcycle, and returned to Daytona the next year. This time, he won the Battle of the Twins, a Rocky Balboa finish if there ever was one.

The victory doesn't end there. The first commercial version of the Britten motorcycle sold for a record $140,000. Not a bad return on the few hundred dollars he had spent on the design and construction of the original model.

The moral to this story is that most bad breaks, particularly those that do not involve life-changing injury, terminal illness, or death, are no match for human intervention. As Benjamin Disraeli once said, "Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creature of man. We are free agents, and man is more powerful than matter."

Intangibles such as focus, commitment, and action, all of which John Britten displayed in abundance, have a way of rearranging the playing field, notwithstanding injustices harsh enough to bring most of us to our mental knees. John Britten proved that a determined individual can overcome most of the bad breaks life puts in his path.

Ironically, though Britten was a master at overcoming adversity, shortly after winning the Daytona title - in the prime of his life at age 44 and hard at work on a revolutionary new airplane - he was diagnosed with cancer and passed on quickly. It was a sad ending for those of us who knew him.

Britten's story is a grim reminder that the typical injustices we encounter in our day-to-day lives are rarely of major importance. They could be more properly categorized as the "little irritants" that gave birth to Murphy's Law, especially the part that states, "If anything can go wrong, it will - at the worst possible moment."

It's nice to know that these little irritants can be overcome by anyone who is intensely focused on a goal and determined to attain that goal. And that, in a nutshell, describes John Britten. He is one of the few people I can say I feel truly honored to have known.

It's Fun to Know: The World's Longest Poem

The record for the world's longest poem usually goes to the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian religious text. The poem has more than 100,000 couplets and roughly 1.8 million words.

But Nigel Tomm - who is writing the world's longest novel - has written another contender for the world's longest poem. At least, the world's longest poem in English. Volume 8 of The Blah Story is primarily a 728-page poem.

Word to the Wise: Sough

To "sough" (SOW or SUF) is to make a soft, low, sighing or rustling sound. The word is derived from the Middle English.

Example (as used by Les Murray in the poem "Driving Through Sawmill Towns"): "In the dark of winter, tin roofs sough with rain."

__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2296, 03-06-08], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.