I bought and downloaded a book titled "The Five Habits of Health Transformation" by Mike Adams who calls himself the Health Ranger. He runs a website called NewsTarget.com, a terrific site with a ton of information that, while not specifically aimed at seniors, is very relevant to the cause of senior fitness and enduring health. He has written many informative books, which can be found at another of his sites, http://www.truthpublishing.com. In this particular book, he has ranked 5 health strategies (that's what I think is important - not just information, but valid strategies for getting what we want) in order of bang for the buck. Guess what the top strategy is: SUNLIGHT, particularly adequate sun exposure to generate sufficient vitamin D3 in our skin to keep the immune system running at top levels. This #1 ranking is achieved because the cost is near zero (only time), and the benefits are enormous. He includes in this strategy, the use of good-old Cod Liver Oil in the winter months, and whenever lifestyle limits our outdoor time.

I have to chime in here and say that I am totally amazed at the research whirling around vitamin D, and its impact on whether you get a whole basket of lethal conditions as you age, or not. "The most widely studied vitamin for the prevention and treatment of cancer is vitamin D3. Numerous studies document the ability of vitamin D3 to induce cancer cells to differentiate into normal cells and to interfere with cancer cell division. Vitamin D3 appears to be especially protective against breast and prostate cancer, and has been shown to be an effective adjuvant therapy against leukemia, lymphoma and brain cancers." (Life Extension Foundation article: http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag97/april-update97.html).

From personal experience, I never get through the winter without a cold, and a secondary bacterial sinus infection that lasts a month or so to go with it. This year I took 4.5 grams of Cod Liver Oil every day and have not had a sniffle. I've flown in crowded airplanes, kissed the same people with infected kids and done my share of over-extended partying, without a hint of getting sick - I am a believer!

I'm adding Mike's sites to the websites that get searched from our lower search bar (Google custom search) because I respect the guy's output and want to make his information available to our readers.

Good Living - Frank