The blues are anything but colourful.

Van Gogh may have made it look beautiful, but depression is anything but. That feeling of despair, apathy, and lethargy weighs on your soul, and your shoulders, like a stone.

There are many theories on depression. One researcher once guessed that the problem could be a brain chemistry imbalance, but this has NEVER BEEN PROVEN. Even if you look on the labels of psycho-pharmaceuticals (drugs meant to change mood or mental state), they readily state the mechanism of action (how the drug affects your body) is "unknown". Yet drug prescriptions and psychiatry are now inextricably bound.

The problem is, these drugs have no proven efficacy  - raw data, even from studies commissioned by drug companies, almost always show a success rate no better than the Placebo Effect (i.e. Prozac is as effective as a sugar pill, or a tic tac, essentially, at relieving depression). Moreover, they have powerfully destructive side effects, including increased DEPRESSION and suicidal ideation! While the general population has a suicide rate that is less than your chance of being struck by lightening, those taking anti-depressants may be at a HIGHER risk. In the US army, for instance, there was a 76% increase in spending on psycho-pharmaceuticals from 2001-2009, and a corresponding 150% increase in the suicide rate.

One of the most interesting cases was the State of New York v. GlaxoSmithKline. By subpoenaing the raw data the drug manufacturer had manipulated to get FDA approval, the courts learned that, in the study where the manufacturer claimed that Paxil was safe and effective to use on kids, the kids on Paxil were actually
6x more likely to have suicidal thoughts. In addition, the raw data also showed that Paxil actually is no more effective at treating depression than placebo. 11 of the 93 kids in the study had serious side effects; 7 experienced such severe side effects they were hospitalized. Yet this information was omitted from the study submitted to the FDA for approval. The head psychiatrist who "authored" this study pocketed nearly $1 million dollars from various drug companies for lending his name to their marketing cause.

I say "marketing cause" because that is what the field of psychiatry has largely become - a drug marketing machine. They are using "suicide screenings" in schools on our kids now - 9/10 of the survey takers in one school were put on medications after this completely arbitrary and subjective checklist. There has even been the invention of new mental "diseases" that were actually created by drug companies (remember the ads about Social Anxiety Disorder that were everywhere a few years ago? That "diagnoses" was the brain child of a drug company, GlaxoSmithKline.) They have become so arrogant that they are actually just creating new diseases for us to be afraid of, and for them to profit from. And profit they do - the drug companies profit more than all of the other companies on Forbes 500 COMBINED! But I digress...

You have probably also seen in the news lately the possible connection of anti-depressants to cancer rates. The devastating array of problems these drugs cause long-term is only now beginning to be seen.

So, my point is this: drugs do not help depression generally, and where they do, the side effects and ensuing dependency negates any positive.

However, there is much evidence that underlying nutrition, digestive and hormonal imbalances, imbalances that can be actually objectively measured, are actually the root of depression. Emotional traumas are also involved, but these traumas are only masked by the taking of these dangerous and toxic drugs, not resolved.

If you want to resolve depression naturally, without the dangerous side effects and the total lack of effectiveness, we are happy to help. We have a package of services that WILL help to balance underlying physiological problems and help to relieve mental and emotional stress that are causing depression, WITHOUT the cancer, diabetes, or onset of suicidal thoughts. If you are interested, please email info@pranaholistic.ca for more information.

Why are we dying?

Do you want to hear something amazing?

In Canada, chronic diseases account for 89% of all death in Canada!

Doesn't that astound you? And given that doctors, scientists, politicians and pretty much EVERYONE agrees that most chronic illness is 100% preventable, what the heck are we doing? Yes, of the illnesses that are killing us, it is estimated that 80% of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes is preventable through diet, exercise and lifestyle changes, and about 40% of cancer. 

Beyond the obvious cost to us on a social level, amazingly, this also costs us financially, as a society. It is estimated that we lost 500 million dollars in 2005 alone in national income just from premature deaths.

Does this disturb anyone else?

So, here at Prana, we are starting a movement. The World Health Organization estimates that if we reduced chronic illness by just 2%, over 10 years Canada would save 1 BILLION DOLLARS!

So what if we, as Edmontonians (interestingly, Edmonton is about 2% of the national population) did our part and reduced chronic illness here by 2%?

Join Prana Holistic's 2% Initiative. Do your part to reduce the incidence of chronic illness in Canada TODAY (it is about PREVENTION, emphasis on the "pre").

Here is what you can do:

• exercise for 3.5 hours a week, which reduces your incidence of all chronic disease by about 50%!!!!
• eat more vegetables. I know some of you out there are saying "they change what's healthy every week". Let me tell you - no one has ever said broccoli isn't healthy. Eating just 2 servings more of veggies a day, especially leafy greens, will reduce your incidence of chronic illness by about 15-40%!
• STOP SMOKING!!!! The National Cancer Institute predicts that even at the age of 50, stopping smoking reduces your risk of dying prematurely by 50%.
• cut down on sugar. New research shows what natural health practitioners always suspected: high intake of sugar raises your risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and liver disease (not to mention diabetes, which we already knew). Those are major factors in your risk for developing a chronic illness.
• keep your BMI below 30. Research shows this has the greatest influence on your risk for developing a chronic illness. To calculate your BMI, take your weight in pounds and multiply it by 703 and divide that number by your height, in inches, squared.

So Edmonton, let's embrace good health and turn our noses up at chronic diseases. The changes I suggested are simple, and really - What do we have to lose?

Kristi Shmyr

Prana Holistic

Are we Investors or Fund-raisers?

Did you know that world wide, we have raised about $4 TRILLION dollars in money to fund cancer research?

Does that scare anyone else?

We all know someone who has cancer, who has survived cancer, or tragically died from this terrible disease. I have lost all four of my grandparents to cancer, and many dear friends. I know the draw to do ANYTHING to help prevent cancer is strong. And we are constantly inundated with opportunities to fund raise for cancer research. Yet...what are we accomplishing besides the creation of a multi-billion dollar pharma industry?

The pharmaceutical industry has 625 lobbyists maintaining their economic interest in the States (where we, like it or not, are heavily influenced by). That means that drug lobbyists outnumber the actual number of members of Congress! In 2007, the U.S's pharmaceutical industry raked in $315 BILLION. In Fortune 500 surveys, the Pharmaceutical industry is THE most profitable industry - period. Research and development was over $65 billion of that cost - 26% of the drugs currently being researched are cancer drugs, more than any other category of drug. We are running, walking, biking and frantically raising money for pharmaceutical companies to turn around and charge us for drugs they used OUR money to develop! Where is our cure? Not to be over cynical, but the cure is not the goal. Your cash is.

In 2007, a study found that vitamin D and calcium supplementation seems to reduce incidence of cancer rates by 77% (no drug does this). The World Health Organization says that 70% of cancer is preventable through diet and lifestyle changes. Why aren't we saving our money and investing it in prevention, that is PROVEN to work? Easy answer - not as glamorous. There are no TV crews around when you go to the gym, or eat broccoli, or see your natural health practitioner. There is no story there. But we have been brainwashed to believe that raising funds for research is the answer to our cancer woes.

Lately in the news I have been hearing about the WONDERFUL news that survivor rates are up 6% over the past 18 years. I wondered if this was due to more cancers with a higher survivability rate - and I was right. Thyroid cancer rates have been growing by 10% a year. Melanoma and prostate cancer rates are also rising. These three cancers have the highest survivability rates. So does an increase in the average 5 year survival rate MEAN anything? Or is it we are just getting more of the cancers that we are more likely to survive?

My plea to you is to think twice about where your donations are going - is your money better spent on prevention and good health? I think so.

Kristi Shmyr

Prana Holistic

Sugar is to nutrition as Tiger Woods is to commitment

(Hmmm...I am not entirely sure that analogy is sound, but you get the idea!)

Sugar. It holds such a key spot in our hearts and our society. Chocolates at Valentine's Day, candy at Halloween, and that striped emblem of Christmas, the candy cane - sugar is everywhere. It's in your salad dressings, on your fries, and (chances are) its in most of what you will eat. 

We KNOW sugar is all but a biohazard when it comes to our health. It depresses our immune system. It raises tryglycerides and increases weight gain, diabetes and metabolic disorders. It aggravates asthma, arthritis and gallstones. It can destroy your kidneys and increase your risk of infection. Yet we are eating eat at a record rate - in the last 20 years, our consumption in North America has risen from 26 to 135 pounds of sugar per person per year!!!!

That's like eating a whole human made of sugar!

Not shockingly, the rate of heart disease and cancer seems to be somewhat correlated with the rise in dietary sugar.

So my intrepid friend and colleague, Roberta, and I are setting out on a little experiment.

How would 30 day sugar free days feel?

What do I expect? Well, its only 3 days in - cravings are strong. But after 30 days, I expect energy and focus to be more sustainable, and my mood to be more stable. I suspect everyone would embrace those changes for me!

So what are our rules?

1. No baked goods
2. No juice of any kind, fresh or not
3. maximum 3 servings fruit a day, focusing on berries and apples.
4. No sauces or dressings with sugar
5. no chocolate or candy (obviously)
6. No yogurt, except plain.
7. Just no sugar!

I'll let you know how it goes!

Kristi Shmyr

Prana Holistic