Healthy Living for Real People
Posts tagged Hallelujah Acres
The History Behind The History
Feb 9th
We’ve shared a lot of about Hallelujah Acres over the past 20 years.
Once in a while we mention something that we take for granted — but we forget that not everyone knows this stuff!
So, in the spirit of Hallelujah Acres’ 20th Anniversary, here are some little known tidbits about our history that you probably didn’t know…
- Before becoming CEO of Hallelujah Acres, Paul had a 17-year career in the US Air Force. Because he believed so much in the message of Hallelujah Acres, he retired from the military 3 years early, forfeiting his military retirement benefits.
- Ann was hired on at Hallelujah Acres when Paul was away from the office. She may never have been hired otherwise, since she was not Paul’s first choice for the job! (Yes, we laugh about this today)
- When Rhonda met George Malkmus, she was a collectible doll maker — a very difficult job for someone with debilitating arthritis.
- After he was told he had cancer, Rev. Malkmus left his pastoral ministry and became a health insurance salesman. By encouraging people to take a higher deductible and lower premium (unpopular among his colleagues), he was #1 in sales among 1,200 agents for several years!
- The two young people modeling Hallelujah Acres clothing in the Hallelujah Acres Product Catalog are Paul’s son Matt and Ann’s daughter Andrea.
- Andrea, who had arthritis at age 9, saw her symptoms disappear when she and Ann adopted The Hallelujah Diet. Ann was convinced after watching Rev. Malkmus present his “God’s Way To Ultimate Health” seminar in a church in Iowa (the same state Rhonda is from).
… and that’s just the beginning! We’ll share more in future blog posts.
Your turn…
Do you have a historical question about Hallelujah Acres?
Click to comment!
Depressed? Check Your Thyroid.
Jan 19th
Hi everyone, Ann here. Today’s message is for both men and women, but women especially.
Many people are depressed these days – but women seem to suffer from depression more than men. One of the reasons for it is thyroid health.
I’m going through some thyroid issues of my own lately, so I’ve looked into this a little.
In my digging I discovered a brand new study that noted something particularly interesting. It said:
“Patients with thyroid disorders are more prone to develop depressive symptoms and conversely depression may be accompanied by various subtle thyroid abnormalities.”
In fact, some experts believe that up to 50% of depression symptoms are due to a malfunctioning thyroid.
Ladies, this fact should be of specific interest to you, as another study points out:
“Thyroid disorders were associated with 22% higher odds of depression in women … but no association was found in men.”
So what do you do?
First, find a health professional who is willing to check your thyroid levels (specifically for free T3 as low T3 is a contributing factor to depression). Be open to the fact that supplementing your diet (even The Hallelujah Diet) may be necessary.
Second, have your adrenals checked. I’m finding that my adrenals have a lot to do with what’s going on in my thyroid.
I’ll share more about my personal journey with all of this in a video next week!
Until then, keep your chin up — depression is beatable!
Your turn…
When did you last have your thyroid levels checked?
Click to comment!
Best Flu Advice Of All Time
Jan 12th
We’re not going to keep you in suspense on this one.
The greatest flu advice of all time is to not get the flu at all. Easier said than done, right?
Maybe not.
Let’s break this down and analyze it a little. What causes the flu (or a cold, or any disease for that matter)?
The fact is, you get sick because your immune system was caught off guard.
If that’s the case, the best way to protect yourself is to boost your immune system. And one of the best ways to give it a boost is to stop the things that are dragging it down.
Inflammation, for example.
When your body is fighting inflammation, it’s hard to fight anything else (like a flu threat). And one of the best inflammation fighters is curcumin.
That may sound a little odd when everyone else is flocking to garlic, ginger, and vitamin C to avoid getting sick (which are all great ideas, by the way). After all, curcumin is usually something considered by people with cancer and other serious threats.
But what’s good for serious ailments is good for the common cold, too.
Because it’s anti-inflammatory, curcumin reduces your immune system’s workload so it can be ready to address a flu virus.
Curcumin is also a powerful antioxidant, which reduces free radicals that can make you susceptible to disease.
It’s antibacterial, too, which has obvious benefits during cold and flu season.
Curcumin may be an uncommon immune booster but we’re sure you’ve heard of stranger ones. Tell us about it!
Your turn…
What’s the weirdest immune booster you know of?
Click to comment!
Why Meds Are A Pain In The Neck
Jan 10th
We’re big on treating cause of a problem, not the symptoms.
Treating symptoms never works; it may provide temporary relief, but it actually suppresses the problem and can even make things worse.
For some reason, most people refuse to believe this, but now there’s new research that proves it.
Over 270 people with regular neck pain were given three options of getting rid of it:
- Some were given pain meds
- Others were given chiropractic treatments
- A third group was instructed on how to relieve the pain with exercises done at home
In both the short term and over a whole year, the group taking meds (ie. treating the symptom) still had pain while the other groups recovered because they addressed the cause of the problem.
Through chiropractic adjustments and home exercises, the pain was addressed at the source. Taking meds just covers up the problem without really doing anything about it.
But sometimes getting to the root of pain is even deeper than a pulled muscle or a pinched nerve. More often than not it means changing your diet.
Rhonda Malkmus is a prime example. Though the pain she suffered for more than a decade was due to a car accident, the pain trigger was her diet.
By changing her diet, her pain went away. She still had to visit a chiropractor on a regular basis, but it was more for structural rehab than pain management.
If you deal with pain, look to the cause, not the symptom.
And even if the cause is not directly diet related, changing what you eat may extinguish the flare ups as it did for Rhonda.
Your turn…
How do you deal with pain?
Click to comment!
How To Get Kids To Eat Veggies
Dec 20th
It’s one of the worst fears of young parents who are new to The Hallelujah Diet.
“How am I going to get my kids to eat veggies?”
One of our employees said that he and his wife simply asserted their authority.
They reminded the kids that Mom and Dad make the decisions about food, not the kids.
Then they simply stopped buying meat, dairy, and packaged junk.
Of course, the kids whined for few days, got used to it, and now they’re fine.
Kids are resilient, the employee pointed out. And his kids are now much healthier both mentally and physically because of the diet change.
But what if your kids refuse to even try new things?
A new study from the U.K. suggests non-food rewards.
Three and four-year-olds were the focus of the study that were given a taste of a new veggie every day for 12 days.
The kids were enticed to try the new food with either verbal praise or the promise of a sticker.
Guess which method worked a whole lot better?
When kids were promised a tangible reward (ie. the sticker) they not only tried the new veggie but actually changed the way they graded the veggie — those initially described as “yucky” suddenly became “yummy.”
Mind you, not everyone agrees with the reward system.
But hey, if it will get your kids to develop a new habit that will benefit their health for the rest of their lives, maybe a sticker bribe for a short time isn’t so bad.
What do you think?
Your turn…
Have you ever bribed your kids to try new foods?
Click to comment!
Popcorn Do’s and Dont’s
Dec 13th
With Christmas comes popcorn — in some form or fashion — from popcorn balls to decorations.
But take note before you grab a handful.
You may have noticed, as we did, that there’s a news report this week on the dangers of microwave popcorn.
Apparently the effects of a banned microwave popcorn chemical called diacetyl (blamed for a fatal lung disease) are showing up again under a different name in butter flavored popcorn.
Now, if you’re on The Hallelujah Diet, microwaving anything is probably not on your list.
Still, you may want to warn your non-Hallelujah Diet relatives about it.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t have popcorn on the holidays — we’ve got a healthy alternative!
Instead of buying microwave popcorn bags, get some organic popping corn and pop it in a hot air popper.
Having organic popcorn is important, as most non-organic, U.S.-grown corn is genetically modified (that’s a whole other blog post). And a hot air popper eliminates the health hazards of other popping methods.
After popping the corn, drizzle it with some organic, virgin coconut oil and lightly season with unrefined sea salt.
Contrary to what many believe, the medium chain fatty acids in coconut oil are great for cardiovascular health, and unrefined sea salt has many beneficial minerals the body uses every day (just remember not to overdo it; too much sodium is still too much sodium).
And for a cheesy kick, add some nutritional yeast and cracked pepper.
Or if caramel corn is what you’re after, drizzle some agave nectar mixed with vanilla extract. It’s sticky, but boy is it good!
Your turn…
What’s your favorite Hallelujah Diet-friendly popcorn seasoning?
Click to comment!
How To Stay Healthy For The Holidays
Dec 8th
Next month, fitness gym memberships will spike upwards of 40%.
And in February, all the bandwagon jumpers will jump off again.
Yo-yo exercising gets you about as far as yo-yo dieting — nowhere!
The problem is timing.
Everyone waits until they’ve indulged through the holidays before they decide to join a gym or start a home exercise program.
But by that time, you’re lethargic from overeating and have a much greater obstacle (ie weight gain) to overcome than if you had started before the holidays began.
As we mentioned in our last blog post, the sooner you start an exercise program, the sooner you’ll crave healthier foods.
That means, if you start exercising now, you’ll breeze right through the Christmas season no matter where festivities take you (like to your relatives’ place who have never heard of The Hallelujah Diet).
We’re not saying that you won’t be tempted a little.
But if you start exercising now, your desire to maintain your buff new self will override the temptation to eat those Christmas cookies that could ruin it all.
And believe us… If you’re not currently exercising, we know how tough it can be to get back into it.
That’s exactly the position we were in before we developed our free, online Exercise Essentials program (which is why it’s designed for beginners).
We show you what exercises to do, what to eat, and give you some ideas to break up the monotony.
And it’s a lot easier to start now than in January! Check it out…
Your turn…
Are you a January workout bandwagon-jumper?
Click here to let us know!
Fitness Is The “Weightier” Matter
Dec 6th
Should you start exercising first, or start a new diet first?
Yes.
It depends on who you are, really.
Some people change diet first, which gives them more energy, and then start exercising.
Others start exercising first, which makes them want healthier food, and then switch their diet.
Either way, a new study from the American Heart Association says keeping your fitness up regardless of age is what counts if you want to avoid cardiovascular disease.
The researchers said “the long-term effect of fitness change, primarily resulting from increasing physical activity, is likely to be at least as important as weight loss for reducing premature mortality.”
In other words, if you’re exercising regularly but you can’t lose that last 10 pounds, don’t sweat it (no pun intended).
The interesting thing about this study is that it did not call for a dietary change, just exercise and resulting weight loss.
You’d have to assume that changing your diet AND increasing your exercise would generate much better results.
If the thousands of testimonies we receive are any indication, that assumption is correct.
We’d love to help you achieve a testimony of your own!
Whether you want to start exercising first or change your diet first, we can walk you through it!
Your turn…
How often do you exercise?
Click here to let us know!
Herbal Secrets of Frankincense & Myrrh
Dec 1st
Most of us know the story.
Wise men came to visit the newborn Jesus and brought three gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh.
A little more obscure are the meanings behind each gift.
- Gold symbolized Jesus’ kingship.
- Frankincense recognized His holiness (it was a prized perfume in the ancient Middle East).
- Myrrh foretold his suffering (it’s used to spice the dead).
Even lesser known in Western society are the practical, medicinal uses of both frankincense and myrrh throughout the world.
“…the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
Revelation 22:2
In Tanzania, frankincense is mixed with cinnamon and cardamom as a stomach ache remedy. In India, it is used to relieve rheumatism; in fact, frankincense is also known as boswellia and is included in Hallelujah Acres Joint Health supplement.
Some of the more obscure uses include a folk remedy that says ingesting 35 grains of frankincense improves the memory; and an African remedy that claims inhaling frankincense vapors can alleviate laryngitis.
Frankincense is even used as a mosquito repellant.
The historical uses of myrrh are even more colorful. In addition to curing earaches and skin wounds, it even donned the crowns of kings.
The Kenyans chew myrrh gum to treat spongy gums, mouth sores, and to cleanse the teeth. Algerians use it to heal open wounds. And in Nigeria it is used to treat everything from insanity to tapeworm.
It’s amazing to realize that all of these uses come from just two herbs.
Imagine all the healing powers of herbs (or “weeds”) growing in your own yard.
Your turn…
Which are your favorite herbs — and what do you use them for?
Click here to let us know!
A Game of Chicken — Over Kale
Nov 29th
We burst out laughing this morning when we heard this one.
There’s a guy in Vermont whose “Eat More Kale” t-shirts are under attack from the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain.
Chick-fil-A maintains that the “eat more kale” phrase “is likely to cause confusion” with the company’s “eat mor chikin” slogan.
We can’t remember the last time we confused kale for chicken, can you?
After we wiped the tears of laughter from our faces, we decided to dig into this a little.
Turns out that the “eat more kale” perpetrator is 38-year-old Bo Muller-Moore. He started printing the phrase on T-shirts to promote the benefits of local agriculture 11 years ago.
Apparently he’s not going to back down from the chicken giant (now that’s a weird mental image, isn’t it?).
Good for Bo!
The more attention he can bring to eating kale, the better.
After all, it’s one of the most nutritionally dense foods in the world and highly recommended on The Hallelujah Diet.
And if his battle ends up portraying kale as the polar opposite of fast food, that’s exactly the kind of publicity vegetables need (and don’t often get).
The next time someone asks you why you prefer kale over fried chicken, share this:
- kale is cancer preventative (fried chicken is not)
- kale has powerful antioxidants (fried chicken doesn’t)
- 4.5 oz of kale is 36 calories (4.5 oz of Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strips is 290 calories)
- kale has 0.52 grams of fat per 4.5 oz (Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strips have 13 grams of fat per 4.5 oz)
- kale even makes a great snack food
We’ll be watching this battle for updates and we’ll keep you in the loop. In the meantime… eat more kale.
Loading ...