Investment Opportunity in Cassava Production and Garri Processing.

Cassava is a seasonal crop which is grown for profits and can be planted and harvested within 3 to 7 months.
Cassava has been endorsed as the major source of great boost to the economy. Tapping into the cassava farming business will take you where you wish to be within a few years, considering the large space of virgin land available for cash crop farming in Nigeria and West Africa and it doesn't take much to start it. All you need is determination and some start up capital.

There are lots of funding opportunities for people that wish to start up a cassava business as governments is becoming increasingly interested in agriculture and they are ready to lend a helping hand to everyone willing to go into partnership with the laid down policies in favour of agricultural related businesses.

Once you are set and determined to start planting cassava, the next thing is to source a large scale of farm land, enough to explore your target plantation. Every plantation needs basic planting technology and tactics. You must always remember to subscribe to different associations and government bodies which will help you grow your farming business

Market for cassava products.

There is high demand for cassava product in Nigeria and most West African countries. Cassava tuber is used in producing several popular foods and this alone makes it to be in constant high demand everywhere in Nigeria and most African countries. The following are some of the by-products of cassava.

Garri: Garri flour can be taken with either cold or warm water and it is a common food and snack in most Nigerian homes.

Bread flour: Another cassava product is the bread flour. Bread flour allows producers of bread and other pastries to bake quality bread cheaply and sell to target customers.

Akpu: Among the products of cassava is what they call Akpu (Fufu), this you will see in every restaurant or households in Nigeria or other parts of Africa like Ghana, Togo, Benin Republic and host of others. It is usually taken with soup as balanced diet. It is of high demand in most markets across Africa.

 Industrial starch: One can also get very good starch from processed cassava. Cassava starch can be used for industrial laundry by dry cleaning firms.

Nothing in cassava is a waste product. The peeled white tuber can be used for what some tribe call wheat flour. It is usually pounded and processed after it has been dried and fermented, and then it can be thoroughly stirred in hot water. The other part is the peel. It too is not wasted, as it can be given to livestock’s like Goats, sheep and pig.

For those planning to start up a cassava plantation business, it is also recommended to consider adding garri processing to it.


Production of Garri from Cassava.

 The production of garri from cassava is done in these simple steps

1          Peeling and washing cassava root or tuber.

2          Grating cassava roots into mash.

3          De-watering and fermenting mash into wet cake.

4          Sieving wet cake into grits and roasting grits into garri.

5          Bagging and storing the garri.

 The machines needed to start up a garri processing business include.

 
1. Grater:  This machine, which grinds the peeled and washed cassava into a pulp or mash, can process up to 4 tons of raw cassava in one day.
2. Presser:  This machine comes with a 30-ton hydraulic jack and does an easy job of squeezing all the water out of the mashed cassava.

3. Sieving machine:  This is the machine that separates the fibre/lumps before frying.

4. Fryers: There are basically two types of fryers - mechanical and metal trays.

5. Peeler: While the traditional method of hand-peeling cassava is still useful, the peeling machine reduces waste, saves time and labour, and does more work in a short time.

 Cassava production and garri processing business is a highly profitable venture with comparatively low start-up cost. You can start the business with as little as three million naira or even less.

 

By Onyinye Orabuike

 

Is Placenta Highly nutritional for women?

After giving birth, some women save the placenta in order to consume it in the following weeks. In fact, Texas just passed a law giving women the right to take the placenta home from the hospital, the third state to do so.
Science doesn't support a lot of the claims of its purported benefits. But for Melissa Mathis, it's about her rights. Last year she had her baby, Betsy, in a Dallas hospital. When Mathis took Betsy home, she wanted to take the placenta home, too.

"As far as I was concerned it was a part of my body that was in my body. So it wasn't like something, it didn't really feel that strange to me," Mathis says.
Like many women, Mathis had heard through friends about eating a little placenta every day in the weeks after giving birth.
The placenta, sometimes called the afterbirth, is typically dehydrated, ground up and put into edible capsules. Many midwives and doulas believe that because the placenta grows along with the fetus, it contains hormones and nutrients that can help a woman recover from childbirth.
Some say it helps women breastfeed or can prevent postpartum depression.
Mathis took the capsules for six weeks.
"It's hard for me to know what the effects were because I don't have anything to compare it to," she says, "But I had great success breastfeeding, I had no problems with emotional instability. I definitely feel that it helped me."
Mathis says the hardest part was just getting her placenta in the first place.
Texas classifies placentas as medical waste. And hospitals have liability concerns because placentas could carry infectious disease. Mathis says she spent months during her pregnancy communicating with hospital administrators about arranging custody of her placenta when the time came, but she says the answers she got were too vague.
So when Betsy arrived, Mathis and her husband waited until nobody was looking.
"And we were able to grab it, and we got it and put it in a cooler and threw it in a backpack and my husband handed it off to the placenta handler in the lobby of the hospital and that's not ideal. And, in my opinion, that's not acceptable."
Mathis talked about it with her state representative, Dallas Republican Kenneth Sheets.
"It seemed like an issue that involves freedom and liberty and just a basic right and we just decided we'd take it on," he says.
Sheets wrote the new law that allows women to keep placentas, if they sign a waiver and don't test positive for infectious disease.
Texas is the third state in less than a decade to put a placenta law on the books. The first were Hawaii and then Oregon.
And yet doctors say there's no scientific evidence behind all the health claims. Some women say the placenta helped them, but researchers say it's probably just a placebo effect.
"We don't have any studies on this," says Dr. Catherine Spong, deputy director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Spong is much more interested in how the placenta functions during pregnancy, not after.
"The placenta is really the lifeline. It serves as the baby's lungs, the baby's kidney, it has functions of the liver, of the GI tract," Spong says. "Interestingly, it also has immune functions and endocrine functions."
Spong says her institute will spend $44 million on placenta research over the next few years. She says she doesn't feel comfortable offering an opinion on moms who eat placenta, simply reiterating that science doesn't support it.
But Mark Kristal does have an opinion.
Kristal is a behavioral neuroscientist with the State University of New York at Buffalo. He's been studying placenta eating in mammals for 43 years.
"The overwhelming majority of mammalian placental mothers ingest afterbirth," he says.
In fact, many women point to this fact as evidence that humans should do it too.
But Kristal says not so fast. The reason many mammals do it is because there's a chemical he discovered in amniotic fluid and placenta that provides pain relief during birth.
"It boosts the effectiveness specifically of opioid or opiate painkillers," he says.
So wouldn't this work in humans?
Kristal says the chemical is also in human the placenta but it's fragile. Cooking and encapsulating the placenta would actually destroy it.
Kristal says eating it raw isn't a good idea either. Since placentas are also filters, there may be waste products in our placenta that are harmful or toxic.
In fact, he believes humans have evolved away from eating placenta.
"It's not a routine human behavior. On the contrary, there are a lot of cultures that have developed taboos against doing it," he says.
Kristal speculates evolution has provided women with something else to deal with the pain of childbirth. And that's the company of other people.
Most mammals that eat placenta give birth unassisted. But humans don't.
"The advantage of socially assisted birth is not only to help the mother but also to pass information about childbirth from older more experienced women to younger less experienced women who might be helping," Kristal says. "The human data bank grows by this social experience."
Dallas mom Melissa Mathis says she's open to hearing more science about the placenta. But until then, she wants to decide for herself.
"I feel like it's a personal liberty issue. It's our freedom to choose what we're going to do with our own bodies," she says.
Texas hospitals will start releasing placentas in 2016

Erectile Dysfunction in Men

Issues bothering on potency  is the main cause of strife and even separation in many homes but  most couple who  find themselves in such situations  act on some non verbal agreement that makes them  keep family and friends groping in the dark. Rather than seek help, they   allow themselves to be marooned in the conspiracy of secrecy.

What level of erectile dysfunction is classified as impotence?

If a man’s erection is not firm enough to allow vaginal penetration, he is impotent. If the erections have the necessary rigidity, but only briefly, he may have problems too. If the erection loses its strength upon penetration, he is more or less impotent.

 Causes of Impotence

Impotence is not by itself a disease, but is a secondary condition. It is a side effect, a symptom of something else. Medical research has been able to identify   some of the causes of impotence.

Psychological Impotence:  This describes the problem when physical causes are not present. It can be caused by job stress, a rocky marriage, concern over poor sexual performance or financial worries.   It should be noted that almost every man experiences temporary periods of impotence.

Diabetes:  Diabetes is the leading cause of impotence. This disease causes damage to small & large blood vessels, resulting in impotence in some men. It inflicts damage to peripheral nerves also, affecting the brain's ability to transmit its wishes to the body. About 50percent of all diabetic men become impotent after age 50.

Diseases of the Blood Vessels:   If the diseased or obstructed vessels are heart or coronary vessels, the disease produces heart attacks; when it’s to the brain, it produces strokes; and, when it's to the penis it produces impotence.

Radical pelvic surgery and spinal cord damage: Radical pelvic surgery and spinal cord damage can also cause impotence.

Medications and Treatments for Impotence

Viagra:  Viagra is one of the best known medications for erectile dysfunction. You need to be sexually stimulated for Viagra to be effective. Viagra works within an hour and usually lasts for three to four hours.

Transurethral Therapy:  A small pellet of a medication is put directly into the urethra.  The drug is absorbed into the erectile tissue of the penis. It gives an erection within five to ten minutes.

Injection Treatments:  A drug is injected directly into the shaft of the penis when you want to have sex. The medication usually works within 15 minutes.

 Hormone Treatments: The most common hormone abnormality is reduced levels of the male sex hormone, testosterone. Testosterone can be restored to a therapeutic level with hormone replacement therapy.

Penile Prosthesis:

 Penile prosthesis (implant) option is usually not considered until other forms of treatment have been tried. There are two types of penile implants,

The semi-rigid type penis implant: This penis implant keeps the penis rigid all the time. The penis can bend downwards when you're not having sex.

The hydraulic type penis implant: The penis stiffens when a pump that is implanted in the scrotum is activated.

 It is however, advised to seek medical counsel before treatments.

 

By Onyinye Orabuike

 

SUCH A BEAUTIFUL STORY

Rube and Sara got married in high school. Rube was 17 and Sara was 15.  So very young for such huge commitment, but they were very much in love, and remained in love ever since. In the estate where we grew up, everyone called them Darling, including us kids. This was because they always address themselves with the same abbreviation.  “.....Darling could you help me with that cup over there on the sink,’ Rube would ask. “Oh no Darling, the new curtain is completely ruined”, Sara would cry. But you could always tell if it was Darling Sara or Darling Rube that spoke, for they both had quiet distinct voices.

Darling Rube had soft musical voice that had grown even softer with age. In contrast, Darling Sara talked with a Sharp rasping voice that sounded quit alive and youthful, despite the fact that she was already pushing eighty. You could hear her rasping voice all the way from the balcony of our house.

For the first first five years of my life, I lived under the presumption that they were twins, not until Frank told me they weren’t. “They are husband and wife.” he assured me, “because twins don’t marry.”  Why? I wanted to know, but Frank only shrugged. I could tell he didn’t know the reason any better than I did. But those days, my big brother never admitted ignorance.

My mother said they had been married for sixty years , and in all those years they had lived without a fight , not even as much as  an argument. Dad only laughed. Of course it was and an exaggeration, but he agreed that Rube and Sara’s love story was something out of the ordinarily. It is such a beautiful story, he had admitted.

The Darling’s are long dead and gone now, but trough the course on my growing up, I found out much more about their story, along with some parts that I wouldn’t have considered very nice when I was five. Here are some of the hurdles of life they were able to overcome and come out strong in the end.

Darling Rube and Darling Sara both grew up in a small orphanage.  Rube’s parents had died in a construction site accident when he was only two years old, but nothing was known about Sara’s folks.  She was just a little baby girl found at a refuse dump.  Each time Rube lamented the fact that none of his parent relatives cared enough to take him in when his parent were killed, Sara was quick to remind him she didn’t even have any relatives to be cross with, kind or unkind. Rube would laugh, and say, “ but we have each other now.”  They both had very good reasons to be unhappy or despondent but they chose to be happy instead, and their entire life was such a beautiful story.

The first few years after they got married, they had so little money, so they had to live in a single room apartment below an eatery. Rube worked as a butler while Sara worked as an attendant in the eatery. They could only take their bath and freshen up only in the evening after the eatery had closed.  They couldn’t afford the fancy foods that they liked but they kept themselves amused by pretending that they owned the eatery. Not too long after, they not only bought over the eatery but also owned many other top restaurants in the city. They retired rich, and life was ever so beautiful for them.

In the eleventh year of their marriage, Sara was involved in an auto accident that left her with a weak heart and a Limp. She withdrew into herself as a result and became obese soon after. Rube tried to talk her out of the depression but when his effort failed he sought professional help. Through the encouragement of the therapist, they both enrolled for a psychotherapy program. Rube didn’t really need the session at that time but he enrolled and walked the whole mile every evening to encourage her. They both continued to work out, long after Sara was certified fit. The reward was indeed awesome, for at 70, they both looked young and happy as though they were in their thirties.

 I could go on and on. They were able to overcome the loss of their home and all their properties during a fire incident and the death of their first son who was born terribly deformed. Though not without lots of hurdles like every one encounter at different stages in their life, theirs was such a beautiful story, and all they achieved was through cheer determination.

 The take home for me in all these is that if Sara and Rube could be happy, healthy, and successful despite their clumsy beginnings, anyone can. I have taken the time to analyse and appropriate the success and happiness principles they applied (albeit unwittingly), and its already working for me.  I am grown now and have my life well ahead of me, but I could tell already that life is beautiful. 

By Onyinye orabuike

Natural Remedies for Headache.

Lifestyle changes involving diet, exercise, and relaxation techniques are better than costly medical treatments for headaches. But doctors are increasingly ordering up expensive tests and therapies don’t offer clear benefits.

That’s the latest word from a team of Boston-based doctors who studied headache treatment trends nationwide. They found millions of Americans who see a doctor each year for headaches often end up paying too much for painkillers, brain scans, and other care that isn’t any better than inexpensive lifestyle changes proven to ease pain.

“Contrary to numerous guidelines, clinicians are increasingly ordering advanced imaging and referring to other physicians, and less frequently offering lifestyle counseling to their patients,” says lead researcher John Mafi, M.D., of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

“The management of headache represents an important opportunity to improve the value of U.S. healthcare.”

Headaches are a leading cause of doctor visits in the U.S. Virtually everyone gets them, at least occasionally. About 12 million Americans go to the doctor each year seeking help for headaches and one in four suffers from recurrent severe tension headaches or migraines.

Americans spend $72.5 billion a year on painkillers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — plus another $1 billion on brain scans that do little to help ease their suffering, studies show.

Dr. Mafi’s research shows much of that advance treatment is unnecessary, expensive, and it may even be harmful. Contrast dyes used in some scans can provoke allergies or kidney problems. In addition, unnecessary exposure to radiation is believed to cause about 4,000 l cancers Americans who receive approximately 18 million head CT scans each year, the researchers noted.

To reach his conclusions, Dr. Mafi examined rates of advanced imaging like CT scans and MRIs in nearly 10,000 patients who sought treatment for headaches, as well as referrals to specialists.

From 1999 to 2010, the number of diagnostic tests rose from 6.7 percent of all doctor visits to 13.9 percent, while referrals to other doctors increased from 6.9 percent to 13.2 percent.

Dr. Mafi says the increase isn’t because people are suffering more headaches. He linked the trend to doctors being more likely to order up more tests and referrals, the advent of more advanced diagnostic machines, and a growing number of patients who press for more than the traditional doctor’s advice: “Take two aspirin and call me in the morning.”

But whether you suffer from occasional tension headaches, a throbbing hangover, or even debilitating migraines, you don't always have to reach for the medicine cabinet or seek out a specialist or costly treat or treatment, Dr. Mafi notes.

A number of natural methods have been clinically proven to ease pain as effectively as over-the-counter medicines and more costly treatments. Among them: Getting enough sleep, eating small frequent meals, applying cold compresses to the head, taking a hot shower, getting a massage, or engaging in some type of relaxation practice.

Dawn C. Buse, director of behavioral medicine at the Montefiore Headache Center, tells Newsmax Health scientific research shows a variety of stress-busting psychological and behavioral practices can ease headache pain.

"These approaches can be very helpful …," notes Buse, an associate professor with the Department of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. “Once they are learned, they can be practiced almost anytime and anywhere for the rest of one's life."

Here are six of the most effective drug-free ways to stop headaches, based on the latest health research:

• Get a good night’s sleep. Headaches can indicate you are not getting enough rest, which can fuel head pain. Most experts recommend getting between 7 and 9 hours each day. Even a 15-minute "powernap" when you feel a headache coming on, can head it off, research shows.
• Eat a healthy diet; stay hydrated. Going long periods without eating or drinking can bring on a headache. Aim to drink at least eight tall glasses of water each day and eat healthy foods throughout the day to stave off headache pain. Magnesium — in green leafy vegetables, olive oil, and tofu — may also ease pain by combatting inflammation.
• Ice your forehead. Scientific studies have proven putting a cold compress on your forehead can provide relief from throbbing pain, possibly by reducing inflammation and slowing blood flow.
• Take a hot shower. Headaches from sinus pressure or congestion can be alleviated by taking a hot shower, which may increase blood flow. Research suggests finding a warm, moist environment — such as a sauna or steam bath — may also reduce headache pain.
• Try a massage or acupressure. Massage eases stress and tension, which can stop or prevent headaches. The traditional Chinese medicine practices of acupressure and acupuncture have also been shown to work for some headache sufferers.
• Relax. Mental, physical, and emotional stresses can all contribute to headaches. Consequently, a great way to ease the pain is by engaging in relaxation techniques (such as yoga or meditation), cognitive behavioral therapy and biofeed back — two techniques that involve learning to monitor your pain and address it through relaxation and changing behaviors to relieve stress.

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN NIGERIA

 Real estate investment is one thing that is a must for anyone that wishes to get rich or to stay rich. This rule is not applicable in Nigeria alone but most countries in the world. The beauty of real estate is the great percentage of the returns within a very short time, in addition to the high level of security for your investment if done properly. Buying and selling houses or land is different from dealing in vegetables which may perish if not quickly sold off. The price of a car starts immediately to depreciate after purchase, no matter how well it is maintained, but the value of your land or house continues to appreciate even if you leave it abandoned for years.  Good investment in real estate continues to appreciate and you could within a short time gain up to 100% or more returns on your investment. Real estate is currently doing great in Nigeria and investors are making millions of naira from this sector.  Interestingly, it is an area anyone can invest in, irrespective of how much he or she is making or earning as salary at the moment.

 

 

The following are different ways you can invest in real estate in Nigeria and get good returns.

 

Land Sponsorship: There are lots of families who own large hectares of land but lack the money to do the survey plan and the necessary documentations from the government. These land owners go into agreement with a sponsor who is be willing to fund the process of surveying and authentication of the property in an exchange for certain number of acres or plots as pre-agreed. Usually, a sponsor is awarded a plot of land per hectare, and depending on the size of the property, he could get as much as hundred plots of land or more in one deal. These lands could be sold off immediately by the sponsor at a good profit or he could wait and sell it a couple of years after, when the value of the property would have doubled.

Purchasing Properties From Real Estate Developers: You can buy property from estate developments, resell the property after a few months and make a good profit. This is because properties located within estate developments are fairly priced as developers want to recoup their investment within the shortest possible time. These developers also offer flexible payment options to attract investors and you can cash in on this to make a sizeable profit.

Renovating an Old Building: You can buy an ‘old house’, remodel it and sell or lease it out for some good profit.

Land Lease: You can buy a piece of land and lease it out to business ventures that need open spaces to operate. These ventures include car wash stands, automobile repair shops or any other business venture that can operate in a temporary structure.  You will be earning money from the rent while the value of the land keeps appreciating. The beauty of land lease is that land does not suffer wear and tear like buildings and you get to sell your land anytime and walk away with very good profits. 

 

Property Development: This is one of the most lucrative of all investment opportunities in real estate as you can reap hundreds of millions of naira in profit in a wise investment decision. You can buy land in profitable locations, develop and build luxury apartments and sell at a high profit margin. However, this business requires a lot of money to actualize but you can present your business ideas to financial institutions and form a partnership where you will handle the development and they will finance the project.  

 

Owning Commercial and Residential Rental Properties: Commercial office spaces don’t come cheap these days.

Residential properties are also good sources of income these days with some properties going for as high as N15 million naira per annum or even more  in some locations. You can rarely go wrong in owning a rental property as you earn money from rent while your property appreciates. However, this is a long term investment and you must be prepared to see it through to the end.

 

How to own a home within five years at your present income.

 Here is how a low income earner could build a house and become a landlord in Nigeria within the shortest possible time.  Your best bet is to save a percentage of your income no matter how little it is, and at the end of each year use your savings to purchase a plot of land in an undeveloped area that shows prospect of appreciating fast within the next couple of years. In Lagos for example, there are undeveloped areas In Ibeju-lekki where lands sell as cheap as two hundred and fifty thousand naira only. The real challenge here is being able to identify those areas that would develop fast. This is not really a problem because there are lots of ways to tell if an area would develop quickly or not.

Now, having been able to purchase a piece of land with your little savings at the end of the year, repeat this the next year and you would have acquired for yourself five different plots of lands with ease in different areas within five years.

You could now go ahead and sell off four out of the five plots of land at a great profit and with the proceeds build for yourself a suitable house on the remaining plot.

This is one of the ways an average earner can build and own a house with relative ease, and it is a method that has worked for so many people in the past.

 

But like I said earlier, there are also rules that a Real Estate investor have to follow in order not to make a poor investment or fall prey to fraudsters.  I shall enumerate these rules and the steps to take in order to secure your real estate investments in my next article “Guides To Investing In Real Estate in Nigeria.”

 

 

 

Universal Keys To Wealth Unlimited

 

 The desire to prosper and create wealth is probably as old as mankind on the surface of the earth, but among the millions of people who seek wealth, only very few attain unlimited wealth, while the majority don’t. This is a fact. But even more outrageous is the fact that, there isn’t a single man on earth who is incapable of attaining unlimited wealth, not one.

In every time and age, nature provides the inhabitants of the earth with more than enough resources  to meet their present  increasing  requirements, desires and wants ,as well as the ability to create  and reproduce even more wealth to meet new desires and requirement as they arise. In other words there is always enough to go round, and more. The universe is programmed by the ultimate intelligence to function this way.

The question why some people only few people succeed in their quest for wealth while many others don’t is centred on the premises of rules of wealth and how well they are appropriated by each individual, weather consciously or unconsciously.

Prosperity Keys

Desire: The first step to getting wealthy is to understand that you are endowed with the ability to get wealth as well as enjoy it. And the easiest and most effective way of attracting wealth to you is by desiring it. You could start by imaging the kind of lifestyle you will live when you have lots of money, and as soon as your mind begins to get comfortable with the idea of having money, your subconscious mind would start to get hold of it and in response, the universe would begin to make available to you the ideas and opportunities that would help you in making those ideas and desires become reality.

Take Calculated Risk: Soon as your mind gets comfortable with the idea of having money, that is as soon you have believed within yourself that you could be rich,  new ideas and opportunities would start to emerge. But this is just the beginning. The second step now is ensuring that you take only calculated risk. To this effect you will need to research thoroughly and take all necessary precaution before embarking on any worthwhile investment. In an area you are entirely a novice, you may need to contract the service of a professional or investment experts. The price may be well worth the added cost in the long run.

Savings And Wealth Management: The goal is to make more money than you need at each moment and spend less money than you earn. The rest you reinvest to yield more profit. This is the stage at which your money starts working for you, instead of you working for money. When you get to this stage, you are on the road to financial freedom. If you are not yet saving at least 10 percent of your income, please start now. It doesn’t matter how much or little you are earning at the moment. You could cut down on your expenses, prioritise and downsize if need be

Research New Opportunities: Set aside a substantial potion of your time and resources to researching and finding out new money making opportunities. Opportunity abound at every point and as old prospects are becoming exhausted, new openings are coming up, both online and offline.  You could take advantage of numerous search engines online to keep yourself updated on new arrivals that may appeal to your interest and purpose.

 
Positive Use Of Wealth and Financial Security: by all mean get all the necessarily insurance cover for all your assets. Make good friends and return benefits. Set aside a substantial portion of your wealth for good will and charity. The wisdom of the world tells you save and save and save, but the wisdom of God tells you to give, and it shall be given unto you back, good measure pressed down, shaken together and running over. I will not forget to tell you that this is one of the incredible principles that works all the time for everybody.  Be careful how you relate with those you meet on your way up, for you could also meet them on the way down, someday.  At all times cast your bread on the waters, and always remember to look upon the ultimate intelligence for sustenance and direction, for him alone teaches a man how to get wealth, and how to enjoy it

 

Secrets To HAPPINESS

Happiness is one illusive phenomenon most sought after but very little understood. Perhaps a little understanding of what happiness really means and a profound mastery of what I term the iron laws of happiness will help in activating in us such level of bliss and fulfilment only imagined. To put it simply, happiness is a state of mind largely characterised by contentment, joy, satisfaction and pleasure. But because happiness is subjective, what makes one individual happy will not necessarily make the next person happy.  There are however a thousand and one ways and things capable of bringing joy and happiness, but to achieve and sustain true and perfect fulfilment, there is no short cut around these five iron laws of happiness which I shall illustrate right away.

Positive psychology: Psychologist Ed Diener, author of Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth, describes what psychologists call “subjective well-being” as a combination of life satisfaction and having more positive emotions than negative emotions. Happiness is primarily a thing of the mind, simply put a choice. To achieve happiness, one has to search, discover and accept who he is, then decide wholly to be happy by consciously and constantly eliminating those negative thoughts and consciousness that could make him unhappy whilst consciously cultivating the very thoughts and ideas that are uplifting to his spirit. For instance if you believe that having a lot of money could add to your happiness, you could take the first step by imagining yourself owning huge sums of money and doing those stuffs you would love to do if in reality you are superfluously rich.  This practice, if done consistently is guaranteed to these two things for you. 1, it will keep you in a positive or high spirit, which in reality is the happiness you seek.  2; it will attract to you  real success and  eventually help you activate in truth those good things you desire and had imagined, for thought in itself is a creative force, capable of attracting and producing those things constantly thought of , be it negative or positive. It has been proven over and over again by researchers and psychologists that positive thinking is the highest law of success and happiness.

Financial freedom:  Ultimate financial freedom is when you are able to make financial decisions and choices without agonizing or worrying about financial limitations. In sharp contrast to positive psychology, worry is the number one enemy of happiness. Worries over financial constrains has always been and would remain the chief cause of unhappiness the world over. Note that lack of money itself may not be the cause of unhappiness but the resulting concern and worry over it. In all sincerity, one cannot really attain any element of happiness without the empowerment of economical power. To achieve your desires in life and reach full potentials’, be it spiritual, mental or Physical pursuits, please seek and master money for there is no real success and satisfaction you can attain in life without the aid of economic power.

Good health:  Health is wealth, health is happiness! All things being equal, there cannot be profound and sustainable happiness without good health. An ill person, no matter how positive minded he tries to make himself would find it challenging to live the good life and find satisfaction, joy and fulfilment in life.  Even in pursuit of happiness, many make the huge misstate of neglecting to secure the good health of their body and mind because they are preoccupied with acquiring wealth and other tangible possessions which they erroneously believe are the only things that would make them happy. But they realise only too late, that without sound health, they cannot even fully enjoy those fine things of life like wealth, love and fabulous relationships. For someone that plan to enjoy lasting happiness, health endangering lifestyles like unhealthy eating, drinking, and health endangering sports is a no no.

Worthwhile engagement:  To every man there openeth a way, And the high soul climbs the highway, And the low soul gropes the low; and in between on the misty flats, the rest drift to and fro. But to every man there openeth a high and a low way, and every man decideth the way his soul shall go.....Charles Haanel

Happiness is found by discovering deeper meanings for life. The Epicureans believed in reaching happiness through the enjoyment of simple pleasures. These simple pleasures or deeper meaning could be your hubbies, sports, a job you enjoy, or a vocation.

Recreation: Recreation is activities that are outside your usual work or normal routine, and are uplifting for both the soul and the body. All works and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Recreation could be mental activities like reading, or physical sports, play, or simply socialising. Taking out time out of one’s usual works routine helps you to recoup lost mental and physical energy and sets you on the road to real happiness

 Nature in actual sense meant for us to be happy and live life to the full.  To this end, the ultimate intelligence has provided man with everything needed for a worthwhile existence. Right now, it is mans duty to discover for himself and appropriate these principles of success and lasting happiness, for happiness, indeed, is the essence of living.

6 Foods That Stop Diabetes

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Diabetes is rampant in America with 18.8 million people diagnosed with the disease and 7 million undiagnosed. The majority has Type 2 diabetes, and obesity caused by overeating is generally recognized as the major cause.

In addition to eating too much food, we are also consuming the wrong kinds of foods, says Ray Sahelian, M.D., a nationally recognized expert on supplements and author of Mind Boosters. Our diets include too many high-carb, highly processed foods and too many simple sugars, which stress the body, he tells Newsmax Health. The body becomes unable to respond properly to insulin, and the result is diabetes.

"With diabetes, the body's pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin to maintain normal blood sugar levels," says Dr. Sahelian. "People with Type 1 diabetes produce little or no insulin. People with Type 2 diabetes may continue to produce enough — perhaps even too much — but insulin receptors on cells develop resistance, a condition that prevents the body from using glucose effectively."

Sugar continues to circulate in the blood and build up. The health results are devastating and include increased risks for heart disease, nerve damage, blindness, and kidney damage.

A diet high in fruits and vegetables and low in processed foods fights diabetes, and specific foods help prevent Type 2 diabetes as well as help reverse the condition. Six of the most powerful are:

Blueberries. Several studies have found that blueberries help improve insulin sensitivity, reversing the process that leads to diabetes. One government-funded study followed health professionals for as long as 24 years, and found that eating two or more servings of blueberries a week lowered diabetes risk by 23 percent, and another study published in the British Medical Journal found that replacing daily fruit juice with blueberries could reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 33 percent. Researchers suggest that adding the equivalent of a half cup of blueberries daily to cereal is helpful.

Green tea. Green tea helps regulate blood sugar, the function impaired by diabetes. A Dutch study found that drinking three cups of green tea daily helped keep glucose levels in check, reducing the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 40 percent. Don't add milk, though: A study found that adding milk decreases tea's ability to stimulate the production of insulin.

Chocolate. Dark chocolate improves insulin sensitivity, according to Tufts researchers. The beneficial effect is due to flavonoids which help insulin-producing beta cells to function normally and to use insulin efficiently. Most experts advise no more than a small square or two of dark chocolate daily.

Vinegar. A study at Arizona State University East found that taking two tablespoons of vinegar before meals lowered sugar levels by 25 percent in diabetics and by 50 percent in prediabetics. According to Japanese researchers, the biologically active agent is acetic acid, which inhibits the actions of enzymes that digest carbohydrates and allows some sugars and starches to pass through the intestines without being digested.

Nuts. A study published in Diabetes Care found that Type 2 diabetics who replaced a sugar-free whole wheat muffin with a daily handful of mixed nuts (about 2 ounces) lowered both blood sugar levels and LDL (bad) cholesterol. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that walnuts and pistachios are two of the healthiest nuts.

Coffee. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that drinking three or four cups of coffee a day reduced the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 25 percent. A Chinese analysis of 26 studies found that people who drank the most coffee reduced their diabetes risk by 30 percent.

© 2015 NewsmaxHealth