Organic Connections May 2007 by Natural Vitality

Organic

Connections MAY 2007

The magazine of Peter Gillhamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Natural Vitality

Aloe Vera Ancient and very modern miracle Conservation International On the front lines in the fight against global warming

What the world needs now is a good-tasting (light organic fruit flavor) liquid multinutrient that provides the energy and stamina you need— without all of those pills, tablets and capsules to swallow. Introducing OLV—Organic Life Vitamins. Your simple solution to optimum nutrition.

Food-based nutrition Liquid (for better absorption) Essential vitamins Organic ACTIValoe™ Organic noni juice ConcenTrace® trace minerals Amino acid complex OptiMSM® Chromium picolinate

Organic Life Vitamins is available through Peter Gillham’s Natural Vitality 800.446.7462 Visit www.petergillham.com for additional product information.

A Broader View of Health

hile we are all unique people with our own tastes, views and interests, there are aspects of life and living extending beyond us as individuals that have an important impact on our lives and our health. In a sense, this is obvious. Our families, our friends, our work, even the weather, can make or break our day. Certainly we know that interpersonal upsets or problems at the workplace can carry over as lingering stress we “take home” with us and, if continued long enough, can even result in illness. These areas beyond ourselves are natural connections that we, as a part of post–Industrial Revolution society, have largely ignored— to our collective misfortune. The shortsightedness of ignoring the fact that all living things (people, animals, fish, birds, plants) inhabit the same biosphere (the surface, the atmosphere and hydrosphere of the earth) has given us unwelcome “side effects”—pollution, the onset of global warming and dramatically demonstrated climate change. Today, a healthy individual faces challenges to living a long and continued healthy life that are largely man-made. This otherwise grim reality check is modified by the fact that man is both adaptable and innovative. There is a growing realization, even in some portions of big business, that it’s not “all about the money.” One writer observed that we trash the planet not because we’re evil but because the industrial systems we’ve devised leave no other choice. Our factories and industrialized farms, freeways and power plants are primitive inventions designed by people who didn’t fully grasp the consequences of their actions. We are all, like it or not, having to become environmentalists. Innovation, which got us into our current situation, can also get us out of it. With determination, creative solutions and proactive businesses, we can use our prosperity to help us build the kind of world we all want to live in. The purpose of this magazine, Organic Connections, is to promote a broader view of health that includes bodily health, the renewal of our planet and the welfare of all its inhabitants. We hope you find the concept as exciting as we do.

In this issue

or•gan•ic |ôr'ganik|

3 denoting a relation between

elements of something such that they fit together harmoniously as necessary parts of a whole : the organic unity of the integral work of art. • characterized by continuous or natural development : companies expand as much by acquisition as by organic growth.

4 interview

Sirena Stever, RN, ND, owner of Herbal Remedies, talks about the importance of magnesium.

5 feature The ancient—and very modern—miracle of aloe vera provides a look at the many important internal benefits of this unique plant.

6 environment Conservation International takes you on the front lines in the battle against global warming where you can see that progress is being made.

—Editor Organic Connections is published by Peter Gillham’s Natural Vitality 2530 N. Ontario Street, Burbank, CA 91504-2512 National Office (800) 446-7462 www.petergillham.com info@petergillham.com

A portion of the profits from the sale of

Natural Calm ® and Organic Life Vitamins™ goes to our Natural Revitalization environmental action initiative addressing global warming, which helps fund Conservation International (www.conservation.org) and Remineralize the Earth (www.remineralize.org).

interview

Sirena Stever, RN, ND Herbal Remedies

Herbal Remedies is a health products store located in Augusta, Georgia, the mission of which is to educate and empower others in assuming responsibility for their own health and to enlighten people in natural ways and remedies to help them take proper care of their bodies. The store’s owner is Sirena Stever, an RN who is also an ND (Doctor of Naturopathy), a Natural Herbalist, a CNAC (Certified Natural Health Consultant), and a CNC (Certified Nutritional Consultant). Stever has been involved with natural health remedies and products for the last ten years, eight of them as the owner of Herbal Remedies. The store recommends Natural Calm to assist in combating a broad variety of disease processes and as part of an essential mineral foundation. “I have seen it help everything from asthma to heart arrhythmias,” Stever says. “The importance of magnesium is actually much higher than

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calcium and many other minerals. It is one of the most essential.” To introduce Natural Calm, Stever simply provides samples to customers and recommends they try it. “After one or two nights,

Reports of results also include those from customers with arthritis and other joint problems, who have experienced relief from regular use of Natural Calm. “I have heard many testimonials from customers whose

they’re right back in here to get it,” she says, laughing. “Not only are they buying it for themselves, they’re wanting extra bottles for their friends or family. They can tell such a difference from the very first time they take it.” Stever has some interesting stories from the utilization of Natural Calm. “I had a person come into the store who was going into an asthma attack,” she says. “I mixed the Calm up and gave it to her, and within five minutes she was breathing normally. She was then able to carry on a conversation without having to stop to breathe. It works pretty quickly.” Another was from a customer who was experiencing tachycardia—an increase in heart rate. By adding a regular dose of Natural Calm along with the medication regimen, the customer then lowered the heart rate into an acceptable range of between 60 and 80.

joints actually felt better,” Stever says. “They were pain free from arthritis problems that they’d had in the past. Where before they were only getting two to three hours of sleep at a time, they were finally getting a good night’s sleep. This would normally take place after only one or two doses of Natural Calm.” One noteworthy use Stever has found for Natural Calm is with children with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). Many parents have visited the store and expressed the desire to take their children off either Ritalin or another ADD medication, or to prevent them from taking it in the first place. “One of the foundation products we will start them on is Kid’s Formula Calm,” she says. “They can tell such a difference. Sugar and overstimulation, as from stress, will actually exhaust a child’s nervous system. The magnesium allows the nervous system to rebuild, and will allow the child to relax.” With the research Stever has done into magnesium, these types of results come as no surprise to her. “People don’t know it, but a lot of prescription drugs deplete certain vitamins and minerals from their bodies,” she says. “One of the main ones is magnesium. Putting the magnesium back in, even after taking their medications, will greatly help with the side effects of the medications without disrupting them at all.”

The importance of magnesium is actually much higher than calcium and many other minerals. It is one of the most essential.

Feature story

The Ancient—and Very Modern— Miracle of Aloe Vera

Aloe vera is a naturally occurring ingredient that, while not part of any current fad or trend in health and nutrition, has since ancient times been steadily recommended for a wide variety of maladies both external and internal. These recommendations are now being quite substantiated by science. According to Ken Jones, chief science officer of Aloecorp, a leading provider of high-quality aloe vera products, “Scientific studies have emerged that cite the positive effects of internal consumption of aloe vera in creating a balance from the inside out. Whether it is aloe’s effects on soothing burns and wounds, its promotion of the body’s anti-inflammation responses, or other ‘less obvious’ health indicators such as a healthy immune system,

Elsewhere on the ever growing list of problems aloe vera has been used to successfully address can be found the reduction of the crystallizing effect that creates kidney stones, stimulation of the enzymes necessary to combat type 2 diabetes, reduction of inflammation resulting from radiation therapy, increasing of blood vessel generation in lower extremities of people with poor circulation, soothing of stomach irritation, promotion of normal bowel movements, and the alleviation of many colon problems. According to Shawn M. Talbot, PhD, author of A Guide to Understanding Dietary Supplements, the aloe plant also “has been shown to exert beneficial effects on cardiac disease risk factors by reducing blood levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose.”

Aloe vera is a natural antioxidant, which means that it helps boost the immune system and reduce cell damage caused by genetic, diet and environmental factors. digestion, or sugar and cholesterol levels, aloe vera has always been a nutritional leader in many internal and external aspects of good health.” Aloe vera is a natural antioxidant, which means that it helps boost the immune system and reduce cell damage caused by genetic, diet and environmental factors. Oxidative damage, which occurs within a cell as a result of an imbalance in certain types of molecules, has been linked with cancer and numerous cardiovascular and neurological disorders as well as with the aging process itself, and aloe vera has been found to negate the stress caused by this damage both through the activation of bodily inherent antioxidant systems and through its own properties.

The application of modern science to the processing of this natural miracle has resulted in a uniquely effective certified organic product called ACTIValoe. Aloecorp, the manufacturer of ACTIValoe, has succeeded in not only fully preserving but even enhancing aloe vera’s natural benefits through the application of strict scientific methods, beginning with the growing and harvesting of the plants themselves and continuing all the way through processing and delivery of the final product. Studies of cell proliferation (cell growth) have confirmed that ACTIValoe produces twice the stimulation of cell growth of overprocessed commercial aloe products and even 28 percent better than

native aloe vera by itself. Due to its effectiveness, ACTIValoe is included as an ingredient in Peter Gillham’s Natural Vitality Organic Life Vitamins. Described as a daily “multi-nutrient,” going far beyond the multi-vitamin, Organic Life Vitamins features ACTIValoe as a key food-based active ingredient along with vitamins, trace minerals, amino acids, antioxidants, MSM, noni and chromium picolinate. According to Natasha Lee, president of Peter Gillham’s Natural Vitality, “We are proud to be featuring ACTIValoe in our product as a way to introduce customers to the benefits of this wonderful organic ingredient in a context where it not only provides its own benefits but also enhances those of other nutrients.”

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Conservation International On the front lines in the battle against global warming

The warnings have been voiced: our planet, with its precious environment, is rapidly deteriorating. Deforestation is eliminating the only counterbalance to the escalating amount of carbon dioxide filling our atmosphere, courtesy of mankind and his technology. Hundreds of animal, plant and marine species are hovering on the edge of extinction—and many have already disappeared, perhaps never to return. Of course activists, politicians, music artists, actors, and anyone else with a caring voice is speaking out: the destruction must cease, or we will all soon be history. Fortunately, an organization called Conservation International, in addition to speaking out, is taking very effective action. “I have never been associated with a group of people who continue to have such ambitious goals, and continue to make such progress toward those goals,” says conservationist and legendary actor

Harrison Ford, in a video posted on Conservation International’s website. And if one examines the facts, it’s quite true. In its relatively short life, Conservation International has managed to preserve some 500 million acres on land and sea—an area large enough to be viewed from space. Conservation International operates in a unique way—working with indigenous peoples and local governments, in a manner calculated to help them help themselves. For example, CI worked for almost 10 years directly with communities and local authorities around Madagascar’s Zahamena National Park, helping to provide them with sustainable economic alternatives to deforestation before turning control of the park over to them. In another example, after CI research findings determined it a top conservation priority, Bolivia created Madidi National Park, one of the largest national parks

Native species seedlings awaiting planting as part of the Ecuador Conservation Carbon project.

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on Earth. Instrumental in the park’s creation was a massive awareness campaign launched by CI, including a documentary that reached 3 million television viewers. In 2000, CI and its partners convinced Peru to expand the park to the point where more than 7.4 million contiguous acres have now become protected. Probably the singular aspect that gives CI its “edge” is its work with partners such as 3M, who in October 2004 committed $3 million to supporting CI’s strategy for forest restoration in China, and Mitsubishi, with whom CI is working on climate solutions that also protect biodiversity and sustain livelihoods. Numerous other partners, large and small, are also working with CI in their effort to, in their own words, “conserve the earth’s living natural heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature.” Along with corporations, several notable

Pearl Jam is offsetting the emissions associated with the band’s 2006 tour with contributions that will be used to restore up to 30 hectares of degraded tropical forests in northwestern Ecuador.

Tree nursery in the Gao Li Gong Nature Reserve, Yunnan Province, located near the border between China and Burma. The nursery is a reforestation and habitat restoration demonstration site under CI’s Forest Restoration for Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Initiative.

Ecuador Conservation Carbon project reforestation volunteers.

Equatorial howler monkey, Ecuador.

entertainment groups have become involved with CI’s “Conservation Carbon” project designed to offset their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, in response to the Kyoto Protocol and other initiatives to reduce global warming. The Dixie Chicks, to balance out emissions associated with their 2006 tour as well as their own personal emissions, are funding forest protection efforts being conducted through the Makira Forest Project. CI is working on this project with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the government of Madagascar to permanently protect 350,000 hectares (850,000 acres) of tropical rain forest in the northeast region of Madagascar. World-renowned rock act Pearl Jam is also offsetting the emissions associated with the band’s 2006 tour with contributions that will be used to restore up to 30 hectares of degraded tropical forests in northwestern Ecuador. As this regenerated forest grows,

it will absorb more than 6,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over the next 30 years and provide habitat protection for endangered plant and animal species as well as direct support for local communities. Pearl Jam also offset the 5,700 tons of CO2 emissions generated by their 2003 concert tour through an investment in CI’s Conservation Carbon project. This funding supported a joint project between CI and the Wildlife Conservation Society to protect rain forests in northeastern Madagascar. Yes, great effort is indeed being taken to solve global warming before it solves mankind. If you would like to become involved, visit Conservation International’s website: http://www.conservation.org/xp/CIWEB/ getinvolved/.

Indri indri lemur, Madagascar. The Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands hotspot is the single highest priority for the conservation of primates.

The Dixie Chicks, to balance out emissions associated with their 2006 tour as well as their own personal emissions, are funding forest protection efforts through the Makira Forest Project to permanently protect 850,000 acres of tropical rain forest in the northeast region of Madagascar.

Makira Forest landscape, Madagascar. The Makira Forest represents the largest remaining contiguous forest in eastern Madagascar and is of utmost importance for long-term conservation, especially in light of global climate change.

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