jenny cares 

FIBROMYALGIA and HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup)
Janice Lorigan wrote "High Fructose Corn Syrup and the Fibromyalgia Connection" - a book that's fairly easy to read;. Not too many big words I made some notes as I was reading which I'll share with you here.
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GUIDELINE TO REDUCE FIBROMYALGIC SYMPTOMS...
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DO NOT...

• Consume food or drink products that contain HFCS, corn syrup*, crystalline fructose, or corn syrup solids.
• Inhale wet fingernail polish fumes.
• Inhale pesticides, insecticides, fumigants, or malathion.
• Drink liquids which contain more than 5% pesticides.
• Eat rice**

*Old-fashioned corn syrup does not disturb metabolic processes for most people. However, many manufacturers are still using the terms high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup interchangeably.
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**Rice- Unfortunately, rice absorbs arsenic from the soil. (Soil of many agricultural areas of US and o' countries has elevated levels of arsenic. Even organic rice may contain an excessive amount of arsenic if grown where cotton grew previously.)
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DO...

• Read ingredients levels on food and beverage containers.
• Be cautious when eating out.
• Stock your pantry with organic biscuits and cereals.
• Stock your fridge with fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly.
• When possible, drink filtered water.
• Choose organic milk, juice, and wine.
• Eat a balanced diet (without HFCS!)

METABOLISM - Non-fibromyalgic consumers seem to metabolize HFCS with no noticeable unpleasant effects. BUT fibromyalgics experience negative effects after eating or drinking HFCS. However, the effects aren't immediate so it makes it difficult to make the connection between the pain and the HFCS.
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THE TROJAN HORSE: the journey of the HFCS into the body is like the Trojan Horse fable. HFCS tastes like food and digests like food in the stomach. But as metabolism begins the body discovers the deception. Part of the HFCS is toxic to fibromyalgics, i.e. the chemically manipulated fructose that used to be glucose.
The manipulated fructose part of HFCS confuses the metabolic processes and exhausts the intestines and liver because this fructose is unstable. ORGANS and NEUROTRANSMITTERS are affected.
SEROTONIN and DOPAMINE are neurotransmitters that contribute to feelings of contentment and well-being. During pain the dopamine levels in fibromyalgics are significantly lower than dop' levels in non-fibromyalgics.
Serotonin - 95% of serotonin is produced in the intestines. In fibromyalgics the low levels of serotonin contribute to depression and catastrophic or negative thinking. As long as the intestines are overtaxed with the abnormal glucose/fructose metabolism problem, serotonin production may be v low.
ENZYMES - influence the speed of metabolism and play powerful roles in the metabolic process. One of the important roles of the enzyme is to remove toxins from the body.... but a high level of toxins suppresses the production of enzymes, so the intestines are burdened.
FASCIA, PAIN & CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
There is a connection between fibromyalgia and fascia.
WHAT IS FASCIA? - a stretchy web existing all over the body, lying just below the skin. Fascia surrounds everything: organs, brain, toes, fingers, limbs, neck, muscles. It helps to hold the body together. It supports and separates organs and muscles.
Impaired fascia of the fibromyalgic becomes tighter and more immobile, especially in the neck, upper back, shoulders, lower back.
At times the fascia of fibromyalgics contains and restrains the muscle, ligaments, tendons too tightly. Manipulation of the fascia with massage, acupuncture or acupressure can provide some comfort.
HOW DOES THE FASCIA BECOME IMPAIRED? Janice Lorigan's theory is that the strange enzymes from HFCS aren't wanted by the body so it attempts to excrete them via the skin pores. While passing through the fascia on the way to the skin, an adverse chemical reaction results, stiffening the fascia until the HFCS enzymes are expelled from the fascia. During that process the fibromyalgic feels pain and achiness and requires additional sleep time to recover.
WHY MORE SLEEP? because the intestines, liver, endocrine system, and cells have to work v hard to rid the body of the HFCS chemicals, thus causing FATIGUE.
THALAMUS -part of the Central Nervous System -an area of the brain -made up of neurons - plays a part in PAIN PROCESSING.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Way Home
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   The daffodils began to bloom in rapid succession. Bursts of yellow and white, with orange, trumpet-shaped crowns shouted up and down my garden path. In the midst of them all, a few blue irises reached upward, stately and peaceful on their long stalks. March was changing its garment of grey rain and chilly winds into April's colourful wardrobe. The snails knew this too. They appeared from their winter hibernation, or from whatever subphysical dimension they inhabited, to leave sticky trails along my wooden walkways.
   It was time to "harden" the seedlings, now sporting the required four leaves, in the mild outdoor spring air. I set them on a square wooden area used in the summer to hold our outdoor barbecue grill. As I carried the last egg carton out of the enclosed patio, I saw her - Kyari Hota, bending gracefully over an uptilting blue iris, as much a beautiful flower as the one she was now admiring.
   "Hello, Kyari," I said quietly, trying to avoid disrupting the calm mood of this scene.
   "Good morning, daughter," she returned, straightening and turning to face me. Her almond eyes were like dark ponds in which colourful fish of the inner worlds might swim in eternity.
   "I'm putting out my seedlings to harden them in the outdoor air," I offered, pointing to the egg cartons lined up like regiments of soldiers. "I wonder if they'll survive. I hope so."
   "Do not hope, my daughter," smiled my teacher. "Intend. Then intention will magnetize the desired result toward you, and all the necessary steps along the way will be made clear."
   I thought about this, then tried out the corrected attitude inside myself.
   "I see what you mean," I said shortly. "It feels very different. It feels like a powerful connection between this moment and the future I've imagined - a connection between these seedlings and the mature plants full of flowers!"
   "Yes,"  Kyari replied. "This connection you sense is Spirit itself, which is the binding force connecting all living things. But the connection is activated through intention. Spirit is like the wires strung all over your city to carry electricity to homes and businesses, and Spirit is also the electricity itself. But intention is like the switch at the power point which sends the energy through the wires which connect the city. Without intention, dreams remain only potentials. With intention, they become realities!"
   "Yes, I see!" I agreed. "Hoping for something to happen and creating it through intention is miles apart, isn't it?" 
   "It is," the Adept smiled.
   "But Kyari, is creating through intention always best?" I queried, feeling for something that was vaguely forming in my mind. "What I mean is, can someone project an intention too aggressively?"
   "Very good, daughter," the Adept said approvingly. "You are thinking ahead! The aggressive and the receptive both have their place, as well as their time, as you have seen through our previous discussions and experiences. Furthermore, there is always the issue of ethics - that is, whether your intentions would be ultimately harmful or beneficial to the whole. If, however, your ethics are good, you are free to use the spiritual forces to achieve your goals without concern. The description I will give you may be similar in some ways to the laws of manifestation. Yet the viewpoint I am presenting today is aimed at a higher spiritual level.
   "First, you must begin with an intention toward a specific purpose. This activates the flow of Spirit, vitalizing the connection between you and whatever you desire in life. Since Spirit is intelligent, it will also connect you with all the large and small objects, incidents, people, and experiences which you need to reach your goal. Chances are that you will be able to consciously predict very few of these necessary intermediary steps. Logic and reason will not suffice. So it is here that the passive mode comes in handy. Intuition is the passive or receptive side which is a general openness to information coming straight from the higher awareness, or Soul.
   "Intuition is passive because it involves the relaxing of the will, and an attitude of humility, love and trust in a higher power to guide and care for your welfare. Look, at the most intuitive people you know, and chances are you'll find people who have strong beliefs in God or a higher power, whether this belief is traditional or simply personal to themselves..."