Hi guys, just 10 days to go in this month’s challenge, so keep up the good work!

I’ve a got a TIP for you today, regarding the consumption of salt.

First off, I know that salt has been demonized for many years now, starting with a 1972 research study, which found that if you fed rats an unrealistically and impossibly high amount of salt (50 x normal human consumption), they developed high blood pressure – how revealing! 😛

I know that the modern Western diet may be relatively high in salt, especially as compared to any historical diet, but salt has literally been around almost forever, and that is no coincidence. In fact, an adequate intake of salt is absolutely required to maintain good health. The sodium found in salt is a vital nutrient. It helps maintain fluid balance and cardiovascular function, while also playing an important role in the nervous system. Also, aside from sodium, the other component of salt is called chloride, and it is used in the stomach as hydrochloric acid (HCL), which is vital for digesting your food.

Therefore, being a vital part of our body’s function, the subject of salt is not to be taken lightly. Studies show that there can be serious danger with very high or even very low salt consumption, especially on the long term.

All that being said, what we really need to consider is how much salt is the right amount? Forget that the government is still recommending salt restriction! The latest research recommends about 1.5 to 3.5 teaspoons per day (depending on how much you sweat, how active you are).

What’s also important is the quality of salt. The basic (cheap, refined) table salt is just sodium chloride, and lacks the extra trace minerals (like calcium, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, zinc and iron) found in sea salt or other natural salts (like Himalayan pink salt). That and the fact that table salt commonly contains undesirable additives such as anti-caking agents makes it automatically scratched off my list.

By eating whole foods and eliminating processed junk, excess sodium in our diet is greatly reduced. Therefore, you never need to think about adding some salt to your meal – it generally makes things (especially veggies) much tastier! Just follow your appetite or instinct, our bodies have of way of regulating themselves, and salt intake is no exception to that. Unless you have a kidney problem, there are almost no good reasons to deprive yourself of some good ol’ unrefined salt!

In all ages salt has been invested with a significance far exceeding that inherent in its natural properties… Homer calls it a divine substance. Plato describes it as especially near to the gods, and we shall presently note the importance attached to it in religious ceremonies, covenants and magical charms. That this should have been so in all parts of the world and in all times shows that we are dealing with a general human tendency and not with any local custom, circumstance or notion.
–Ernest Jones, 1912

Hi everyone and congrats on making it to the second half of this month’s challenge!

My TIP for today is this: Meditate your way to success!

I know this may sound odd at first, but all that meditation is, really, is taking a few moments or minutes from the busy day to slow down, breathe deeply, and refocus. That’s it! It doesn’t need to become some obscure esoteric booga-booga.

Stated that way, I believe it becomes much more clear how beneficial such a simple and short practice can be. If you take that quick break to recenter yourself and refocus on your real goals, what’s truly important to you and what’s aligned with your values, then success comes much more effortlessly.

On a related note, I remember reading an article about Yiannis Kouros many years ago (a fellow Greek, who is arguably the greatest runner who has ever lived), and how he described the process by which he would transcend his physical body in order to accomplish his inhuman feats. This struck me particularly because he is a very simple man, of Greek Orthodox faith (like us), and yet he spoke about channeling some form of higher power (in mid-race!) to go beyond the physical limitations of his body. Pretty mind-blowing stuff, but whether you buy it or not, his jaw-dropping world records continue to speak for themselves.

All this to say that having any form of spiritual practice or relationship with whatever power you believe in, can definitely be a real aid towards accomplishing things you may never have initially even dreamed were possible.

Keep fighting the good fight, and continue to transform into a better version of yourself!

When we raise ourselves through meditation to what unites us with the spirit, we quicken something within us that is eternal and unlimited by birth and death. Once we have experienced this eternal part in us, we can no longer doubt its existence. Meditation is thus the way to knowing and beholding the eternal, indestructible, essential centre of our being.
–Rudolf Steiner

Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God.
–Diana Robinson

Just remember persistence and patience are the foundation of any success.
–Christopher de Castell Junghertz

Hello and happy Father’s Day to all the papas!

It was a long and wonderful day for me, but I still wanted to fit in a quick TIP for today: Don’t go ‘nuts’ on nuts! Let me explain a bit…

Nuts often make a great snack or complement a meal. They’re very portable and quite delicious. They are high in excellent fats, typically contain protein and fiber, are high is some B-complex vitamins, vitamin E as well as many minerals. They also contain very little carbohydrate, yet another good selling point. But not all nuts were created equal; peanuts, for example (which are technically a seed), are quite high in Omega-6 fats (which we already get too much of, and polyunsaturated fats in general become toxic when we eat too much of them) and contain the most aflatoxins (a toxic mold which is a liver carcinogen in high doses and is associated with stunted growth in children) – aside form also being one of the most highly sprayed with pesticides. Unfortunately, it is also so darn yummy that it’s very easy to go overboard with it. So take it easy on the PB!

When not buying nuts in bulk, be sure to check the ingredients! Many packaged brands of nuts are roasted in cheap vegetable oils (deep fried, in reality), which are not good for your health or your pocket! Think about it, when you buy something by weight, the last thing you want is for it to be weighed down by all the cheap oil it has absorbed. It’s the biggest rip-off! Buying raw is always best, because the nuts are not damaged by the oxidation process. And there should be only a single ingredient – what the stuff actually consists of! Dry roasted are the most common to find and would come in as second best, but buying them organic is a good recommendation as well. Basically avoid anything that has been irradiated, pasteurized or coated in sugar.

Another important thing to note is that many people have various degrees of digestive issues when eating nuts. This is sort of normal due to their high amount of phytic acid (a.k.a. phytate, a toxin and ‘anti-nutrient’ which humans can’t digest – also found in grains and legumes). Interestingly, soaking and rinsing raw nuts, or buying dry-roasted, helps reduce the phytate content.

To conclude, some of the healthiest nuts (and nut butters) to consume are macadamia, almonds, walnuts, pecans, brazil nuts, hazelnuts and filberts. But remember not to go ‘nuts’ on them, too much of a good thing can become a bad thing!

So how much is enough? About an ounce, or a small handful a day. Enjoy in moderation!

Courage, cheerfulness, and a desire to work depends mostly on good nutrition.
–Jacob Moleschott (Dutch physiologist and writer on dietetics)