Building Your Foundation of Health- Foundation #2, by Dr. Daniel Chong

My initial blog posting in this series described how much of my work with my patients centers around helping them establish a foundation of healthy lifestyle practices upon which they can further build their personal level of health to the highest point possible. I mentioned how important this foundation is, and how other extraneous treatments will not “work” nearly as well without it.

My second blog posting in this series dove headlong into the topic with the First Foundation of Health: Meaningful Participation in Your Community. In it, I discussed the importance of beginning or continuing work towards improving the health of our planet and how striving for above average personal health and wellbeing wouldn’t go very far if the health of our planet and our general population continues to decline.
…. A bit depressing I know.
That’s why for my second post in this series, I’d like to lighten things up a bit and talk about a more entertaining, foundational aspect of health and longevity:
The Second Foundation of Health: Play, Laughter and Good Humor
Have you ever heard about how it takes way more muscles to frown than it does to smile? I always loved that bit of trivia and thought it made so much sense. Smile more, frown less and burn less energy. Simple.
Well, unfortunately it looks as though this idea is nothing more than a handy myth someone made up to get you to smile more often, but I say, who cares?
Even if it burns just as much calories to smile as it does to frown, there is no doubt that one is a more worthwhile endeavor than the other if improved health is your goal. Indeed, smiling and laughter will make you live longer.
Additionally, now that you have hopefully learned a bit from our site about the values of grounding yourself, you might be able to guess my next suggestion….go outside, touch the Earth, play, laugh and have fun! What a wonderful combination. I suspect that if anyone were to ever take the time to study it they’d find a synergistic, positive health effect from laughing and smiling while you are grounded.
So, as I am likely the first physician to recommend laughter and smiling to you as a way to improve your health, I felt it best to provide you with your first prescription (especially if you are a dog lover). Enjoy and happy grounding…Dogs Love Music

Dr. Daniel Chong is a naturopathic physician, licensed in the state of Oregon, who works with patients to help them reestablish their fundamental human needs in the areas of nutrition, lifestyle and energy medicine. He is also a consultant to Juil. He can be contacted through his website, DrDanielChong.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @drdanielchong.

By Meika Jensen

Even if you have never dabbled in recycling before, you could probably recognize the ubiquitous sign: three circling arrows, forming a vaguely triangle shape. This is an American symbol for general recycling, and right now it may be doing more harm than good.

While labels have their upsides – often letting consumers know about product qualities (fair trade, vegan, organic, etc. – most official labels are officially recognized and standardized. Not so with the infamous United State recycling arrows. This sign is fully unregulated, which means any company can use it on nearly any product without much fear of reprisal.

For those of you working your way through an accredited masters degree and who pride yourselves on being green, sit down and listen. This is important information that is seldom told but could really change your habits.

The Disease: Greenwashing, Recycling Edition
As you can imagine, the unregulated recycling symbol can lead to a lot of misuse. The term “recycling” is vague enough that producers can find some part of their goods that could, in theory, be recycled. They then use that as a loose excuse to slap the recycling label on product. So many items have flooded the market with useless recycling symbols that the meaning has been almost entirely lost.

This is greenwashing at its most callous. If you have never heard of the term before, greenwashing is a particularly slimy manufacturing tactic. Derived from the old term whitewashing. Greenwashing businesses will change small, irrelevant details in their product to make them appear more sustainable in order to catch the eco-friendly market demographic. In reality, the changes are nothing more than a new label, an earth-toned color change, a re-statement of ingredients that have not actually changed…or a quick and meaningless label addition.

Corporations can make these changes without spreading any money or following any new standards, and consumers across the market are duped into thinking they are making environmentally wise decisions.

The Cure: Intentional Consumption
So what is a hopeful recycler to do? The answer is called intentional consumption, the period of carefully consideration before purchasing any product. When practicing intentional consumption, take time to look at ingredient lists and research products online before buying them, no matter what the labels say.

Do not trust the unregulated recycling label when buying either products that are made from recycled goods or products that can be recycled. To avoid being led astray, look for more official labels that are actually monitored by a government agency or organization. Look for LEED certification building materials, or Energy Star labels for energy efficiency. By choosing specific product features, you can feel far more secure in your purchases. On the side of good news, if you see the recycling arrows on a product indicating that it has already been recycled, this is far more trustworthy than seeing it on products that could be recycled. It is more difficult for companies to weasel out of making a product out of recycled materials, because it is so easy to test and prove.

A final note: there is one industrial use for the recycling symbol. The plastics industry uses the sign to codify various resins used in manufacturing and how easy they are to recycle. This gives you an easy out when it comes to judging plastics, because it is in the industry’s best interest to keep these labels factual. For industry recycling info, you can spot a number or series of letters located inside or right below the arrows. A “3,” for example, stands for PVC content. These codes help recycling companies and plastic manufacturers quickly separate out like products that can be recycled en masse in order to produce a new supply of a particular type of plastic. Some codes identify plastics that cannot readily be recycled at all. If you are deeply interested in identifying the different types of plastic you can memorize all the codes, but it is a largely in-house system with little meaning outside factories.

Hundreds of millions of people, businesses and governments around the world unite each year to support the largest environmental event in history – Earth Hour.

More than 5,200 cities and towns in 135 countries worldwide switched off their lights for Earth Hour 2011 alone, sending a powerful message for action on climate change. It also ushered in a new era with members going Beyond the Hour to commit to lasting action for the planet. Without a doubt, it’s shown how great things can be achieved when people come together for a common cause.

In 2011, Earth Hour saw hundreds of millions of people across 135 countries switch off for an hour. But it also marked the start of something new – going Beyond the Hour to commit to lasting action on climate change. And with the power of social networks behind the Earth Hour message, we hope to attract even more participation so we can build a truly global community committed to creating a more sustainable planet.

Please commit to joining in on Sat. March 31st at 8:30 and see what you can do to go beyond the hour.

In the course of surfing the internet one day, we stumbled upon this photo. It really caused a pause and reflection on everything that we tend to take for granted in our lives. We have roofs over our heads, clothes on our backs, shoes on our feet, and a connection to the world via our computers, phones, or whatever device you may be using right now.

This photo is also one more reason we are so proud to be partnering with Soles4Souls to help bring footwear to those in need at home and around the world. For every pair that we sell, a pair is given to someone in need. So far, Soles4Souls has donated over 17 million pairs of shoes!

Could you be grateful if this was all you had to protect your feet?

Have you ever watched a child, so full of energy and a zest for life, sprint endlessly around a playground with friends? The look in their eyes as they climb the steps of the slide for the umpteenth time or bump up and down on the seesaw tells you they are doing more than just going through the motions. At that moment their hearts, minds and bodies are being used to their fullest capacities, and they are thoroughly enjoying every minute of it.

Have you ever looked around the waiting room of a typical doctor’s office at the other people patiently waiting their turn to be seen? The look in their eyes as they sniffle, cough or wince in pain tells you they expect nothing more than to just go through the motions. It seems as though they’ve been there a thousand times before.

Get sick. Go to the doctor. Get a bottle of pills. Go home.

Using their hearts, minds and bodies to their fullest capacity seems to be the last thing on these peoples’ minds. All they want to do is feel well enough to get back to work or back home to clean up and get ready to make dinner. If their really lucky, they’ll feel well enough to do the same thing all over again the next day.

What has happened to us?

There was once a time when people weren’t satisfied to simply not feel sick, and doctors weren’t satisfied to simply not get sued. Health in those days meant we had energy….all day long…..without coffee! We rarely got sick and, if we did, it didn’t take a month to get over it. Health in those days was so much more than just the absence of disease, or the absence of symptoms.

Health was normal. It was normal to feel great, normal to not need an antacid, a cholesterol-lowering drug, an antidepressant, or a decongestant, and normal to not need a doctor unless there was something really wrong with us.

If you haven’t noticed, we’ve lost those times. And it’s time to get them back.

Start by educating yourself on what it means to be healthy and what it takes to get there. Eat a diet consisting of foods your great, great grandma would recognize. Go sleep as soon as possible after it gets dark. Wake up when it gets light.

Touch the Earth.

Once you start doing these things the inevitable result will be your feeling better and better. Once that happens, I’ll see you on the seesaw….

Dr. Daniel Chong

We we’re thrilled to find out that the one and only Dr. Oz did a segment on the benefits of grounding the other day! Awesome to see the word spreading about this SIMPLE and BENEFICIAL way to improve your health and well being. Check out the segment below!

Controversial alternative medicine guru Dr. Joe Mercola returns to reveal his most radical cures yet. He claims he’s found all-natural answers to cancer, exhaustion, weight gain and even brain fog. Could your health be changed forever? Dr. Oz puts these theories to the test.

Dr. Mercola claims that a process called “grounding” or “earthing” can significantly change your health. Grounding or earthing refers to contact with the Earth’s surface electrons by walking barefoot outside or sitting, working or sleeping indoors connected to conductive systems, transfering the energy from the ground into the body. Emerging research supports that this may result in reduced pain, better sleep and less inflammation. The logical explanation for the reduction in inflammation is that the Earth’s negatively charged antioxidant electrons enter the body and neutralize positively charged free radicals in the body. To get this benefit, Dr. Mercola recommends grounding or earthing sheets, made with fine thin strands of silver and which connect to an outlet; these cost about $200.
We recomend a pair of Juil sandals! You’ll be connected and look good at the same time!

Hey all. It’s been a couple months since we added this page to our site and we’re still learning the ins and out of WordPress and the seemingly endless array of options when it comes to set-up and functionality. The bloggers of the world have our full respect as it is clearly not just writing and posting….not that it’s incredibly easy to simply come up with amazing content either. So, we’d like to dedicate the next few posts to the bloggers out there that have done a post about Juil. All have done a great job to convey the message of our company as well as the unique and beneficial aspects of our product which we are so passionate about. So, over the coming days we will be sharing some of our favorite Juil blog posts in the Juil blog….did that just blow your mind?

This is the most recent and has without question the best photography!

http://www.beeyondyoga.com/blog.html

Yogi/stylist/blogger extraordinaire Bee Bosnak

When someone has a heart attack, electrical leads are hooked to their chest to see the electrical

activity of the heart. Similarly, electrical leads are attached to our skulls to see the electrical activity

of our brains. Our nerves work by altering electrical charges. Even our bones grow in response to

electrical activity.

It’s biochemistry.

Humans are biological creatures and our bodies work via biochemical reactions. When we get sick

we take medicines, chemicals that interact with our bodies’ own chemistry to make us better. What

many do not appreciate is that most chemical reactions are based on simple positive and negative

charges or ions. Simply put, ions are molecules or particles where there is an imbalance between

negatively-charged electrons and positively-charged protons. When this is the case, there is a net

negative or positive charge on that substance. There are several processes in the body that use this

electron charge imbalance to function. They are:

• Muscles (including the heart) • Immune system (including inflammation)

• Nerves (including the brain) • Cell energy production

• Endocrine glands (hormones) • Aging process

• Bone (growth and remodeling)

So can electric charges affect the body?

Yes. Electric charges can affect our body’s natural function. What is not well understood is how

exactly an excessive electrical charge or lack of charge influences the body’s natural cellular

function. If one looks at the descriptions of many of the medicines physicians use there is a

repeating statement: “mechanism of action unknown.” A lack of knowledge of the details on how a

treatment works does not preclude us from using a treatment that does work.

Where do excessive electrical charges come from?

We are surrounded by dynamic electrical fields and even produce our own static charges with

movement. Every electrical apparatus, light, wire or gadget produces an electrical field. Humans

essentially act as antennas that absorb these dynamic electrical fields and charges.

Should I consider grounding?

There is a growing body of evidence that allowing the body to seek a level state of charge

has benefits to one’s health. Grounding is simply allowing one’s body to achieve an electrical

homeostasis so as not to have an abnormal electrical imbalance.

Roy H. Lidtke DPM, CPed, FACFAOM

Associate Professor of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery

Des Moines University, Des Moines IA

Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, Section of Rheumatology

Rush University Medical Center, Chicago IL

Director, Center for Clinical Biomechanics

St. Luke’s Hospital, Cedar Rapids, IA

6314 W. Eastwood Ct. • Mequon, WI 53092 • juil.com

We recently found this amazing TED Talks video and were blown away by the beauty of Louie Schwartzberg’s time lapse photography. We were even more blown away by the power of the message that is conveyed in this video. A great way to spend 9 minutes. Enjoy!!

“If you learn to respond as if it were the first day of your life and the last, then you will have spent this day very well.”

Here’s hoping that everyone has a blessed, safe, and heartwarming holiday season!

This is the time of year that we can truly appreciate the gifts we’ve been given and cherish the people that we love and care for. It’s also a season of renewal. Yesterday marked the winter solstice. Some of us use this as a marker of the New Year. Some use the traditional calendar date of Jan. 1. Regardless, this is a time of reflection and proposed changes for many of us. We set goals for the New Year and tell ourselves that this is the year we stick to them. This is the year we will run that marathon or quit smoking. Whether or not it comes to fruition, these are the goals that keep us going in life. We can make our goals quite modest or extremely ambitious.
We have personal goals and professional goals. At Juil, we are less than a year old as a company and have a small number of employees that run the business. Of course our goal is to grow our business over the coming year as we celebrate our first anniversary, to welcome new members to our family and to expand into new markets. However, we want to make sure that this is done with our original goal in mind, and that is to help people live a healthier life by staying grounded both physically and mentally. From the beginning it has been our intention to educate people on the benefits of a direct connection between our bodies and the earth. To help reverse the disconnect that we have established in modern society (and look good doing so).
It’s important to set goals and strive to achieve them. However, it’s also important to not forget the goals that you set last year, or even five years ago. Did you stick to these goals? Are they a part of your life today? What did you learn from the ones that went by the wayside halfway through the year? We’d love to hear about your goals/resolutions and what you do to make them a reality.
So, here’s to a year of being true to yourself and the path that you strive to walk. And here’s to a new year of growth, gratitude, and compassion. Best holiday wishes from everyone at Juil to you and yours this holiday season and into the New Year ahead.